A Feeling so Strong
by LighthawkKnight
Summary: Syaoran is a cold, yet powerful young boy sent on a mission. Sakura is a bright, cheerful young girl, who's just trying to adapt to her everchanging life. How can two people who have so little in common, share such a strange, yet powerful, feeling?
1. Mission Time!

_Konnichiwa mina-san! If anybody remembers who I am, I did write this story once, a very long time ago. (Although, I didn't finish it) Now, with my improved wisdom, I have revised and brought you all this story once again. Hopefully, it will all turn out well and it won't be a complete failure… But I'll do my best either way!_

_**Edit: **In my story, I have tried to include various simple japanese phrases and words in my story, to add flavor. Due to popular demand, I will add translations at the end of the chapter for the japanese I use, as I realize it might be confusing for some of you._

_**Preview:** Syaoran is a cold, yet powerful young boy sent on a mission. Sakura is a bright, cheerful young girl, who's just trying to adapt to her everchanging life. How can two people who have so little in common, share such a strange, yet powerful, feeling?_

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**Disclaimer:**

Card Captor Sakura is the sole property of CLAMP. I'm just a fanfiction writer._  
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**Chapter 1: Mission** **Time!**

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**_Hong Kong: Li Family Main House_**

_**Training Hall**_

_**9:00 AM**_

"Here I come dear cousin!"

Grasping her wooden sword in both hands, she made the first movement, swinging a short slash to her opponent's left arm. Her opponent reacted quickly, parrying the blow. Expecting this, she made a quick spin the opposite way, hoping to strike her opponent's right side before he had time to react.

_Crick!_

Quick to react, her opponent quickly shifted his weight to his right side, deflecting the second swing with a vertical parry. Reading her opponent's next attack, she strafed to the left and rolled away from her opponent, dodging his forward stab aimed at her chest.

"Whew, that would've been ugly if it connected!" she said in relief.

"Like you were _really _worried about really getting hit." her opponent scoffed back.

The two combatants stared at each other as they circled the floor of the Li Clan's indoor training hall. The girl with long, raven black hair tied in two ponytails moved her body to a shape of a _gatotsu_ form, an offensive oriented stance with her sword in her right hand raised behind her with her off hand right below the end of the blade, her feet in a neutral, sideways middle stance. At the same time, a boy with unruly, light brown hair reacted by holding his sword with two hands directly in front, his legs both bent with his right knee slightly in front, taking on a classic defensive stance.

Again the girl took the offensive. Gliding her feet forward and joining both hands, she attacked with a quick vertical slash, taking full benefit from her _kotatsu _stance's strength.

_Swish_

Expecting her opening strike, the boy gracefully stepped back with his right foot, making the girl's attack slice nothing but air. The girl, using her using only a quarter of her power for her first slash, followed through with a direct thrust aimed right at his chest.

_Whoosh!_

Seeing the wooden sword go for his chest, he feinted left. Immediately seeing an opening as his opponent hasn't recovered fully from the thrust's follow-through, he moved in quickly attacking the girl's left side. The girl opened her eyes wide, and hurriedly attempted to bring her wooden sword to a vertical position to parry.

_CRACK!_

Having just enough reflex to barely block the blow in time she pushed away, gaining range and ending the short melee exchange.

"Getting better aren't you?"

"Of course, I didn't practice every single day for nothing!"

Both opponents charged, the boy with an overhead strike and the girl meeting his attack, attempting to withstand and direct away his sword. Both combatants were at a deadlock, and neither person appeared to have the upper hand.

"I see you're a lot stronger than before... You can actually withstand 10 percent of my power."

"Hehe! Thank you oh great one."

"Stop mocking me!" came the rather annoyed reply.

Both having the same mindset, they broke the deadlock, both combatants doing a back flip and landing in a defensive position. They circled the hall once again neither one making the first move. After not gaining any ground after her two first attacks, the boy saw that she was reluctant to take the offense.

"Come, Li Mei Ling!" the boy said rather sternly. "She who hesitates will lose confidence, and that leads to defeat!" he continued, motioning her to make the first attack.

Mei Ling became somewhat agitated, but at the same time determined. "Here I come then, _Syaoran_!" she announced, using the Japanese pronunciation of his name. " I hope you're prepared!"

"Anytime!"

Mei Ling charged in, keeping her sword at her right side gripped with both hands. Seeing no immediate opening, the defender gripped his sword tighter and bent his knees slightly lower, trying to read her attack. "Haa!" came Mei Ling's battle cry. Stepping up her speed, she swiftly stepped forward and leaped high into the hair. Moving with great swiftness, she changed her directions from left to right in mid-air, her movements almost a blur.

To the untrained eye that is.

_"One front flip, two side flips…."_ the boy watched her intently, calculating. "_She's going for an overhead strike. Fancy, but predictable!"_

Performing one more frontal flip, the Mei Ling gathered enough momentum for a seemingly deadly overhead strike. The defender put all his strength into an overhead swing move that appeared to strike the kendo sword away from the attacker's grasp.

_"I knocked it away? Wait a minute, there was no counter-force to my parry... What… why would she let go… ahhhhh!"_

Seeing two fingers pointed right in front of his neck, he dropped his own wooden sword in surprise.

"Hehehe! Looks like I win this time Xiao Lang!"

"… Hey no fair!" he said, suddenly realizing what just transpired. "This is supposed to be a kendo match!"

"But in battle, anything goes right? I just outsmarted you this time!"

Syaoran scowled a bit, but softened his look in an instant. "You're right Mei Ling. You did a good job. Looks like you might be able to surpass me someday."

Mei Ling looked at Syaoran as if he had gone crazy. He actually gave out a compliment, a real, genuine compliment! She couldn't remember the last time he said anything good about _anybody._ She would've jumped for joy if she didn't catch Syaoran gazing at her adamantly. Lightly flushing at his gaze, her mind remembered what he said before. "N-No way can I ever surpass you! You barely used any of your fighting potential! Don't give that 10 percent bull! That was more like 3 percent!"

"Acutally it's more like I gave...!" Syaoran was about to correct her, but was cut off as he heard a door slide open, Mei Ling and Syaoran looked to the direction of the only entrance of the training room.

"Ah! Good morning Xiao Lang, Mei Ling."

"_Ohayo gozaimasu_, Wei-_san_." they both chorused. Wei smiled back.

"Wei-_san_ guess what!" Meiling chirped. "I beat Xiao Lang one on one today. Isn't that great?"

Wei gave a momentarily surprised look. "Is that so Mei Ling? Looks like the young master is getting rusty. Must be getting old…"

"I am not old! I'm only 14 for crying out loud!"

Giving a wistful look, Wei kneeled down in front of Syaoran and patted his head. "Xiao Lang is growing up so fast! It seemed only yesterday that I was helping your Mother change your diapers…"

"Wei-_san_!" Syaoran shouted, rather embarrassed.

"Awww… did widdle Xiao Lang have a poo-poo?" Mei Ling mocked in a baby tone.

Syaoran immediately shot one of his death glares. "One more word, and you're dead!"

"Riiight, and who's the one that lost today? Hmmm….?"

"That's it you're a goner!" he barked, chasing Mei Ling.

"Hehe can't catch me!"

Wei smiled at the two cousins fondly. Syaoran can act so serious and cold at times. But he knew that underneath that, he was also very childish and warm-hearted. This is one of the rare times he saw this side of him. It seemed that the only people who can draw out that side of Syaoran were himself, his family, Mei Ling, and… his thoughts suddenly drew a blank.

"_What was I thinking about again? Hmm... must've slipped my mind. Guess I'm the one getting old."_

"Oh, Xiao Lang, Mei Ling" Wei started, remembering the reason for coming to see them. "Li-_dono_ wishes to speak with you both."

Syaoran, who a second before was wildly chasing Mei Ling, suddenly stopped it in his tracks and immediately looked at Wei with a horror stricken face. Mei Ling, in addition, immediately ceased her giggling and shot a concerned face at Syaoran and Wei, before finally absorbing what Wei just said.

"My mother?" Syaoran asked a bit frighteningly.

"Yes, Li-_dono_ says it is a matter of great importance, and that it involves both of you.

Syaoran let out a nervous gulp. Whenever his mother called him out for a little talk, it wasn't just a trivial conversation. Mei Ling, seeing her cousin in such a state, couldn't help but start to feel the same herself. Mei Ling trotted to Syaoran's earside.

"Xiao Lang? What do you think she called us for?" Meiling whispered, butterflies in her stomach.

"I don't know, Mei Ling, I don't know…"

And Wei just showed his usual, neutral smile.

* * *

**_Hong Kong: Li Family Main House_**

_**Living Room**_

_**9:30 AM**_

After changing out of their training outfits, Mei Ling and Syaoran joined Wei as he led them to the main living room. As expected, it was a rather long walk, as the training hall was at a separate wing to the main house. On top of that, the house they were residing in was more like a mansion! Consequently, Syaoran and Mei Ling had plenty of time to well... _wonder_.

The three were walking in silence. Syaoran and Mei Ling had their heads down, thinking what "business" Yelan was talking about. Wei just had a thoughtful look on his face.

"...Say Wei-_san_. Do you have any idea what my mother is going to say to us?" Syaoran started, trying to prepare for her mother's words.

"Hmm… I'm afraid I cannot say Xiao Lang." Wei replied, eyeing his young master. "I wonder what it could be..." Wei wondered aloud.

Arriving at the Li family's main house living room, Mei Ling couldn't help but stare in wonder at it. No matter how many times she visited, she never failed to marvel at the sheer _richness _of the place. The size was almost the area of her entire house, and was decorated with various Chinese pottery and jade crafted statues. There was extensive seating available, which was meant to accommodate a large amount of people for formal gatherings and other important visitors.

Her eyes went to the middle of the room, spotting Li Yelan, the head of the Li household. Wearing a white kimono, she had pale, yet smooth, beautiful skin. Her waist length jet black hair was tied up, giving off a non-formal feel to her attire. Her face held a neutral, polite expression, yet still conveyed the power, confidence, and grace of a Li family member all the same. Even in her non-formal attire, she commanded a presence that was impossible to ignore.

Looking up with her charcoal-colored eyes, her gaze fell on the two children. Syaoran and Mei Ling, feeling her penetrating gaze, immediately tensed up, as it seemed like she was peering into their soul themselves. In a moment, she let up her gaze and softened her eyes.

"Li-_dono, _Mei Ling and the young master have arrived, as requested." Wei bowed.

"Ah! Wei-_san_, thank you for escorting the two here. Here have a seat Xiao Lang, Mei Ling!" Yelan said rather light-heartedly, earning a startled look from Syaoran and Mei Ling.

The two cousins took a seat directly across from Yelan, albeit rather slowly. Yelan's unusual cheerful attitude did nothing to calm their nerves.

"So Mei Ling, are you enjoying your stay at our residence once again? I know it's a little big and fancy but…"

"_Hai!_" Mei Ling suddenly answered, standing up, in a very loud tone, startling Syaoran. "Yelan-_obasama_, Xiao Lang, and Wei-_san_ have been very very kind!" she spoke up even louder, and then performing a deep bow, her head almost becoming level with her hips.

Yelan smiled radiantly at her, and waved her hands lightly. "Glad to hear that Mei Ling! Also, no need to be so formal with me!"

"_Sumimasen!_" Mei Ling half shouted, still bowing, and immediately plopped down next to Syaoran. Syaoran let out a big, long sigh.

"Wei-_san_" Yelan suddenly spoke up, making a sort of hand gesture at Wei. "Would you mind getting us some tea?"

"Of course Li-_dono_." Wei quickly stepped out of the room, understanding her subtle message.

As Wei closed the door the living room, the air again became very heavy in the room. So, heavy in fact, that it was like any wrong movement could blow the place up! Mei Ling was just looking down at her lap, afraid to make even the wrong movement, while Syaoran was alternating between glancing at his mother every 5 seconds, and admiring the shoes he was wearing today. Sensing this, Yelan immediately put on her usual serious look.

"Xiao Lang?"

"Yes, mother?" he replied, looking straight at Yelan.

"Please relax, my son, you are not here because you have done anything bad."

"I will try mother." he replied, although he showed no sign of relaxing.

Yelan stood up and walked to the window and looked up at the morning sun. Finally free from her penetrating gaze, Syaoran and Mei Ling breathed deeply, relaxing a bit. Taking a glance at Yelan, she was staring outside almost wistfully, her face lightening up from her serious expression before.

"Ever since your father left us," she started sadly, "You have been training and training, promising to become a great leader that your father would've been proud of." Yelan let out a little smile. "You showed great progress in the martial arts, and were very diligent with your studies, both academic and magical..." Yelan then looked straight at Syaoran.

"Xiao Lang..." she continued, looking at Syaoran proudly, "...over the past few years you've matured into a fine young man, both physically and mentally. You have the strength, resolve, and mindset to become one of the best leaders our clan has ever had…"

Syaoran immediately tensed up. "_So this is what it's all about… Me? Become the clan leader at this age? Am I even ready?" _he thought million thoughts swam through Syaoran's mind at once.

"… although your people skills could definitely use some help." Yelan added, chuckling lightly.

Mei Ling couldn't help but let out a little laugh too, as he saw Syaoran look down embarassed.

She knew Syaoran since they were practically babies, and all throughout their childhood he was a very introverted person. While she would chat wildly with her friends, Syaoran was always far away, sitting alone, either deep in thought or staring at the sky. The only people he would ever talk to during school would be his _sensei_'s, and herself. Even when he was with her, he still seemed quite shy... until she started relentlessly teasing him about all sorts of things, which brought out his personality a little. She knew he had a reason for being like this, of course, ever since his father, the leader of the Li Clan died, Syaoran was forced to grow up entirely too fast. He was pushed by the clan to train and study immensely, leaving him no free time to have a social life. The clan wanted him to still interact with people... sure, hence the reason he was still enrolled in school, but his already introverted personality just deepened.

Through the whole time, Mei Ling tried her best to be a good friend for him. Finding that she had a knack for martial arts, she joined Syaoran in his physical training sessions, if only to keep him company. She also tried introducing him to her friends, but with his stone-cold attitude and his lack of social skill, her friends tended to stay away from him. Looking at Syaoran once again, she thought to herself. "_That's Syaoran alright, cold and unsociable to everyone that he isn't close with. I wish… I wish he can be more open to other people. Show his true self to others…"_

As much as she adored Syaoran, she wished he would show others what kind of person he really was: the thoughtful, sweet, and diligent boy she grew to love. The only peers that ever knew the real person behind that shell were herself and... her eyes immediately shot up a moment. Suddenly a shadow of an image passed through Mei Ling's mind.

"Mei Ling, what's wrong?" Syaoran said to her, sensing the change in her look. Yelan seemed to notice as well, and shot her a calculating gaze, carefully observing her reaction. Mei Ling scanned her mind again, trying to recover that image she received only a few seconds back. _What did I just think of? I know it was something, but..._

"It's nothing, Xiao Lang… _Oba-sama_, please continue…"

"Certainly." Yelan replied, neutrally. Turning around to fully face the two, she let out a wide grin. "So I have decided that in order to improve these people skills of yours, I'm going to send you to live in Japan for a while, with Mei Ling!"

_"Yeah, Japan! That would be a good idea..." _Mei Ling's thoughts started. Her thought process was interrupted as Yelan's statement fully sank in.

_"Nani!" _they both exclaimed at the same time. Both cousins immediately went to wide, saucer eyed mode. Yelan only smiled wider. Behind the living room door, Wei gave out a small chuckle.

"B-b-but… why Japan! There are plenty of people at my school here in China!" Syaoran replied hastily.

"Yes why Japan _oba-sama_? We like it here!" added Mei Ling.

Both cousins looked at Yelan with a mixture of anxiety and confusion in their eyes. "Now, now..." Yelan cut in, "You didn't let me finish…" she replied back calmly.

Syaoran stopped. "Huh? There's more?"

At that moment Yelan's lopsided grin turned into a deep, dark frown. Her eyes narrowed and she once again looked out to the landscape outside, lost in thought. Watching his mother, Syaoran face darkened as well, as if suddenly understanding. Mei Ling could only look at the two, with helpless wonder, knowing that they probably know something that they don't. Unlike the people that lived under the Li main household, she had no attunement to the mystical arts, or 'magic', the term some people may use.

"Yes, there is an evil presence about." Yelan shook her head, looking like she was in some mild discomfort. "Surely… you have sensed something coming from Japan, haven't you Xiao Lang?"

Syaoran thought for a moment. "Yes, I felt something strange a season ago." Though studying and rigorous training, he became familiar with different schools and sources of magic, be it western, taoist, and even supernatural, but ever since he suddenly woke up that one morning, more than 3 months ago, it has been quite a distraction in the back of his mind. It was just a little feeling he felt that morning, but it made his hairs stand on end and made him very wary. That feeling was unkown, mysterious, and was something he hasn't heard about or dealt with before. He wasn't sure if it was evil, good, trustworthy, or anything. "Although… I can't quite put my finger on what it is." Syaoran continued, sorting his thoughts. "So, you are sure this _presence_ is hostile mother?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I don't know why, but I somehow just know this is not good news. It has been disturbing me for quite some time as well, although I haven't felt anything since then."

Syaoran nodded. Mei Ling, in the meanwhile, was visibly shaken, trying to imagine what it was that bothered Syoran and her aunt -two of the most powerful members of the Li Clan- to this extent. "_It's_ _times like these I'm glad I don't have magic…" _Meiling thought, frightened by the thought of having nightmares about sensing evil presences.

"So... that's the other reason I am sending both of you there. To investigate, and probably shut down whatever evil might be surfacing there. With your training Xiao Lang and Mei Ling, this should be an able task for you..."

"Yelan-_obasama_!" Mei Ling interrupted, suddenly standing up. "But… why are you sending me? I..." she looked down trying to find the right words. "I'm not that strong... and I don't even have a speck of magical ability at all…" she trailed off.

"But Meiling, your skill in the martial arts is excellent is it not? I hear outmaneuver my son this morning after all!" Yelan answered her, smiling. Mei Ling blushed at the compliment. It wasn't often that you hear the head of the Li household sing praises about anyone. Syaoran only let out all small scowl.

"_Great, everyone's rubbing me in today about that loss…"_ Syaoran thought bitterly.

"You would be a great help to my son. Also, you are the closest person to my son in this family and all. Seeing how his people skills are now, he'd be lonely!"

"_Okaa-sama!_" Syaoran spoke out, seemingly insulted. Although he knew everything she said was true.

"Xiao Lang. You know that this is a foreign country. Even though I know you could manage very well on your own, it is imperative that you don't know err..." she paused to think of a good term. "... aggrevate the natives."

Mei Ling snorted, and Syaoran immediately shot her a glare.

"Well, I would fully understand if you don't want Mei Ling to accompany you." Yelan then feigned an innocent look. "I hear Fei Mei and Fan Ren always wanted to visit Japan, and they do adore their darling little brother sooo very much. Perhaps I could arrange..."

Syaoran's face immediately paled. "NO!" he almost shouted, making even the eavesdropping Wei jump back. "There is no way, no way, those _banshee's _are coming with me!" he complained with much agitation on his face.

"If that is the case..." Yelan said with an all-knowing smile. "... then I would assume Mei Ling would be your preferred companion?"

Syaoran looked at his mother and at Mei Ling, a little startled by the latter. Mei Ling had that watery look in her eyes. "I guess..." he started, trembling with his words a bit. "If, if it's Mei Ling, then that would be acceptable." he said quickly, all the while looking at the wall.

Yelan beamed a really bright smile. His son was so cute when he was embarrassed! Mei Ling, meanwhile, felt a slight tint of red at her cheeks. The words he said, to any other person it would seem just like just a normal statement. But this was Syaoran, it was almost a cold day in hell when he said anything good about anyone. _"Xiao Lang, he actually complimented me again, twice in the same day!" _she thought. It took quite a bit of willpower to keep herself from suddenly latching out and hug him.

"So it is settled then, Mei Ling, you will travel with Xiao Lang to Japan and support his efforts. We are counting on you." Yelan said, giving Mei Ling a slight bow.

"_The Yelan-obasama, Xiao Lang... the entire Li Clan really expect a lot out of me… I hope… I hope…" _Mei Ling thought deeply. This was the first time anyone has expected this much out of her! Working with the future leader of the Li Clan in such an important mission. When she was invited here a few days back, she never even imagined this would be the reason why. "Yes, I understand now _oba-sama_… I hope I won't let you all down!" she said doing a deep bow.

Yelan smiled at her niece. She was such a hard worker and very eager to please. It's no wonder that they befriended each other. "There is one more thing, Xiao Lang, Mei Ling. After the Li Elders and I had a divination session about this presence, we have come to a plausible, yet hypothetical assumption as to the purpose of this presence appearing." Yelan paused for a moment. "After pinpointing the whereabouts of this appearance, and our relative knowledge of Japan's magical and historical background, we have come to the conclusion that this evil presence's target is most likely that the Mistress of the Cards."

"The card mistress!" Syaoran said surprisingly. "You mean the master of the legendary clow cards?"

"Yes, but she didn't just master the power of the cards, but she was also strong enough to turn them into her own cards that is drawn from her own power." Yelan responded.

"Her own power? Then… then that means she must have as much power as Clow Reed himself!" Syaoran said with slight disbelief.

"Yes, her magical power is very strong indeed, and it is a reasonable assumption that she's more powerful than anybody even in our clan."

Syaoran nodded in agreement, until a sudden thought came to his mind. "Wait a minute… If she is so powerful then don't you think she can probably fend off the evil by herself?"

Yelan's eyes looked downcast for a moment. "That is the problem, this evil presence IS stronger than her."

Syaoran immediately paled. "Th-then, what chance does Mei Ling and I have?"

"No chance at all, I'm afraid. That is why you must team up with the card mistress and work together to combat this evil."

The two cousins immediately went into deep thought.

"Needless to say, if you fail, there would be no one else to stop it. It's exact intentions are unknown, but... whatever it is, it is not _good _at all."

Mei Ling looked from Syaoran, to Yelan, and back to Syaoran. "_Poor Xiao Lang, this is such a great task for him. I hope his Mother knows what she's doing. Well I will help him through this, I swear I will!"_

"I understand." Syaoran said in such a determined voice that it shook Yelan and Mei Ling. "We will leave for Japan as soon as possible!"

Yelan suddenly changed her expression to a lopsided grin. "Now that's what the leader of the Li Clan should sound like! Wei has already taken up the liberty to pack yours and Mei Ling's things. Your flight to Japan leaves tomorrow!"

Syaoran crashed to the floor. "I—I see you've been planning things ahead of time."

"Of course! It's fun planning a trip!"

"_Okaa-sama_, this isn't a vacation!"

"I know, I know, but make sure you have some fun while you're there. Keep in mind that the purpose of your trip is not just official business, but a chance for you to grow and develop as a person. Meet new people, improve your social life, and all that." Yelan then lifted her head up in wonder. "Ah I wonder how you could make friends with that stoic attitude of yours? I remember that one time I brought the daughter of one of our trading partners in China over, and you just locked yourself in your room for the whole day... so shy that you wouldn't even say a word even when we had dinner together. I wonder when I'm Xiao Lang will ever introduce me to a girl he likes if he keeps acting like that... Well maybe some girls would find that cute actually..." she started chuckling.

"_Okaa-sama!_"

Mei Ling sweatdropped. "_What happened to the serious mood a while back?"_

"Oh Auntie!" Meiling intervened, "You forgot to tell us who the card mistress is!"

"That's a good question..." Yelan mused.

"What? You mean the Elders don't even know?" Syaoran said, very surprised.

"You must keep in mind that she is as strong if not stronger than Clow Reed himself! Of course she would be able to learn to mask her presence! It was tough enough trying to locate that evil presence at that moment when it revealed itself... knowing about someone that is this strong who is in hiding is impossible!"

"I see. That makes sense." answered Syaoran.

"However I have pinpointed the location of the evil source to Tomoeda, Japan. So that is where your residence will be. The card mistress should be close by, as our sources have revealed that she is currently residing in that area as well. I have also enrolled you two at Kageyama Gakuen, the best college prep school in Japan! With both of your grades it was easy to get you two enrolled. It's said that almost all of the alumni are guaranteed to get into their school of choice... it is an excellent opportunity for you, Mei Ling. And Xiao Lang as well, even if it is to only further your knowledge..."

Syaoran gruffed. He was half hoping he wouldn't have to still go to school. _"I guess even future Li Clan leaders need a high school diploma of sorts these days..."_

"In any case, as soon as you arrive at Tomoeda, I recommend that the first thing you two do is to locate the card mistress. Even though the chances are improbable, try to use your lasin board Xiao Lang. Of course, it goes without saying, but try not to attract any unwanted attention from the common folk. Even if you don't find her, perhaps the card mistress will pick up your signal and try to find you. Please don't show any hostility if that happens. Even if you are unable to locate her"

"Right!" Syaoran and Mei Ling replied simultaneously.

* * *

After the meeting, Xiao Lang and Mei Ling immediately headed towards their rooms to pack whatever was left of their belongings, in preparation for their trip. Mei Ling, having almost all of her luggage packed in advance courtesy of Yelan, decided to check up on Syaoran. 

_knock_ _knock_

"Mei Ling?" Syaoran's voice echoed through the door. "Go ahead, it's unlocked."

Entering the room, Mei Ling was about to say something, but suddenly shut her mouth. Syaoran was sitting cross legged on the ground, eyes closed, and appeared to be muttering some strange incantation to a few talismans laid out in front of him. As Syaoran continued a faint aura surrounded each piece of paper and faded away a few seconds after it appeared. Seemingly satisfied, Syaoran opened his eyes and looked up.

"Yes, Mei Ling?" he said without looking at her, gathering his talismans.

"You know, it's polite to look at the person you're trying to talk to. You make it seem like you're not interested in talking to the person." Mei Ling, said back with a slight scolding tone, sitting on his bed.

"Then I guess I'm doing exactly what I wanted to do." he replied back, pocketing the talismans in a small pouch near his left hip.

Meiling giggled a bit. "Wow, if I didn't know better, you just tried to crack a joke!"

Syaoran let out a small grunt. He then walked to his closet and opened it, looking inside for anything he might've forgotten to bring. "Are you sure you're all prepared Mei Ling? The enemy is unknown, so we have to be prepared for anything. I've just prepared some elemental wards for the both of us to carry, and have also enchanted my battle outfit for as much physical protection as I could without tearing the thing." He said, fingering his shirt a bit. "In addition, I'm bringing along extra armaments just in case my swordplay is rendered ineffective..."

"Xi Ao La Ng!" Mei Ling interrupted, "Just in case you weren't listening, we're going to a school in Japan, not some battlefield!"

"I know that! But we should be prepared in any case..."

"What I'm trying to say is... have you prepared anything that's not... I don't know... _combat _related?" Mei Ling sighed out.

"What do you mean?"

"Like this!" Mei Ling suddenly stood up, pushed Syaoran aside, and pointed to some clothes hanging at the back of his closet. "I got these for you for your last birthday and I'm willing to bet that you didn't even _try on _these once, have you?"

She pointed to a nice, light brown polo shirt with a simple white t-shirt, hanging together with a light brown pair of jeans. "Well..." Syaoran said, scratching his head a little. "It's not like I _need _something like that for our trip..."

"Oh yes you do, you do plan on going out for something non-school, non-combat related aren't you?" Mei Ling almost shouted. "Here!" she took the outfit and pushed it to Syaoran's hands. "Try this on right now! Come out and show me when you're done!" she said as she skipped out the door.

Syaoran just stared blankly at the clothes in his hand and then to the door.

_"She sounds like my mother sometimes..."_

About 5 minutes later Mei Ling, standing in front of Syaoran's room, noticed the door open to reveal a very embarssed Syaoran revealing the outfit she got for him.

"Wow... Xiao Lang! _Omae_ _wa kakou-Ii!" _she said in awe.

"... do you really think so?" Syaoran replied in a small tone.

In the corner of the hallway, almost out of line of sight, Syaoran and Mei Ling heard a crash and turned to see Fei Mei and Fan Ren, two of Syaoran's sisters who happened to be home at the moment, sprawled on the floor. As if magically, they both got up and rushed over to their side.

"Xiao Lang, you look so cute!" Fan Ren squealed, gripping her little brother in a very tight hug.

"I can't believe Mei Ling actually got you to wear something like this!" Fei Mei added.

"... can't... breathe..."

After a few more seconds suffocating under Fan Ren's tight grasp, Syaoran somehow broke out of it. "_Fan Ren no baka!" _he shouted as he chased her, determined to hit her over the head. While Fan Ren ran as fast as her legs could take her, all the way to the lower floor. As they disappeared from sight, Mei Ling sweatdropped. Her cousins seem to be full of energy all the time.

"Don't worry Mei Ling, he liked it very much."

A little surprised, Mei Ling looked up and met Fei Mei, one of Syaoran's older sisters, eye. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, he actually _asked _you how it looked on him! Whenever my sisters or _okaa-san _gets him something to wear, he just throws it in the back of his closet without showing any facet of emotion, save for disgust sometimes..." Fei Mei chuckled. "You know, I'm glad you're the one _okaa-san _chose to go with him. You're a very important person to him, wether he shows it or not."

Upon hearing that, Mei Ling's face tinted slightly red. "I-I'm not that special." she stammered out. Abruptly she turned around toward the direction of her room. "I'm glad Xiao Lang likes the outfit, if you'll excuse me, I need to go pack a few more things..." she said hastily.

"Mei Ling, you have to tell him someday, it's not fair to him that he doesn't know."

Saying nothing, Mei Ling sped off toward her room.

Fei Mei displayed a knowing smirk as she watched her retreating figure. _"Good luck in Japan, you two."_

_

* * *

_

**_Hong Kong: Chek_** **_Lap_** **_Kok_****_ Airport_** **_(Hong_** **_Kong_****_ International_** **_Airport)_**

_**The next morning  
**_

**-Syaoran-**

"_Okaa-sama!_ You can stop hugging me now! People are starting to stare…"

"I just can't believe my son is already going away on his own now! You're only 14 you know! Most parents only do this 5 to 10 years from now!"

After releasing from my Mother's embrace, I took one last, longing look, through the windows at Hong Kong. It was my stomping ground for the last 13 years after all. I admit I was a little upset when I first heard I was going to leave, but now I'm almost looking forward to it. I knew I had a mission to do of course, but I was going to go off on my own. Feeling anxious and nervous at the same time, I turned back to my mother.

"Don't worry _oka-sama, _I'll be okay. I've had many years of training to prepare me for something like this." I said to her in a determined voice.

"I know that too well Xiao Lang, but still, it's always sad when a mother can't watch her baby boy grow up anymore." she replied.

**Flight 802 to Narita International Airport, Japan; is now boarding.**

"Just remember that I'll always love you and if you ever need me, just give me a call!" my mom said to me as the annoouncement faded out. Wrapping me in yet another hug, I was a little surprised at all the sentiment she was showing. I knew better than anyone else that my mom always held such emotions in check, but her aura was more fiercely protective than usual, it seemed. She really was going to miss me.

Not sure of what to say, I said the first thing that came to my mine as I returned the hug. "I will _okaa-sama_, I'll miss you too."

Looking behind her shoulders, I saw that Mei Ling and Wei couldn't help but smile at the scene in front of them. Releasing the hug I tried to give the best smile I could in front of my mother, failing miserably. My mother just laughed and patted me on the head. _"I'm really not used to doing these kind of scenes..." _my mind immediately thought.

Then, I saw my mother turn around and give Mei Ling a goodbye hug, one that was no less fierce that the one she gave me. "I'll miss you too Mei Ling." she said in a soft tone. Seeing Mei Ling's face, I saw a little water come out of her eyes.

"I will too Yelan-_obaa-sama._" Mei Ling replied. I couldn't help but give off the faintest smile. Mei Ling has always been a constant visitor in our house, and she was the closest cousin I had too. I always thought of her more as a sister than a cousin, and my mom thought of her like another daughter. I'm sure Mei Ling thought of my mother as a second mother figure as well also.

"Help Xiao Lang out when you can ok?"

"I will."

As much as I despised receiving help at all, I'm glad Mei Ling is coming with me. We knew each other quite well and we trained together in the martial arts for many years, so we were very 'in sync' with each other when fighting together. Having someone dependable that has your back is a great asset.

Of course, I don't think of her just as a fighting asset, but as a friend too. She was the only person that I really talked to outside of my family, with me being trained and trained rigorously day after day. Other girls seemed too frilly or too nervous, but Mei Ling is very outgoing, and speaks what's on her mind. On the other hand, any guys that I tried to talk to seem to be only interested in the next hot new electronic device, or about cute girls. I can never start a real conversation with them just because I had no interest in such things. I guess that's how I turned into such a shy, unfeeling person. Having no social life and doing nothing all day but train will do that to you.

I'll try to be a different person in Japan, I'll give birth to a whole new me! Now that I'll actually have some free time (when I'm not doing official Li Clan business, that is), I'll try to err... develop a social life... make friends, and all that stuff. Good thing Mei Ling is coming along to help, I wouldn't admit it, but I think I'd be so lost trying to do this if she wasn't coming!

**Flight 802 to Narita International Airport, Japan;** **Last Boarding Call!**

"That's our cue Mei Ling." I said as she and my mother broke their hug. As Mei Ling ran to my side, I looked back at my mother and Wei, and I flashed a warm, genuine smile at her. Mei Ling looked wide-eyed at me, and I was even surprised myself.

"Goodbye _okaa-sama_, Wei-_san_. We'll do our best I promise!" and with that I bowed, and entered the tunnel to the plane.

Seeing the two wave goodbye, Mei Ling and I disappeared through the gate.

"Oh yeah Mei Ling..."

"Hmm?" I saw her glance at me sideways, a questioning look in her eyes.

"That match we had yesterday... I was giving it my all." I kept walking, and I didn't have to turn around to notice Mei Ling suddenly stopping in her tracks.

**To be continued…**

**

* * *

**

_**Preview for the next chapter:**_

**Sakura:** Hello everyone! My name's Kinomoto Sakura. _Yoroshiku! _P.E. is my game! Don't get your hopes up for my math skills though.

**Touya** Are you still blabbering your mouth _kaijuu_?

**Sakura:** (steps on Touya's foot)

**Touya**: _ITAI!_

**Sakura:** As I was saying, I finally was accepted to the best high school in Japan, and now I have to move out! It'll be so sad not having my _otou-san_ and (sigh) even my _onni-chan_ next to me!

**Tomoyo: **It's okay Sakura_-chan_, I'm sure it'll be okay!

**Sakura:** Oh yeah! Before I forget, I'm the mistress of the cards!

**Eriol:** Umm ... you just now mention that?

**Sakura:** Next on A Feeling So Strong Chapter 2: Moving Out. See you then!

**Eriol: **It looks like your family won't be the only ones that you're saying goodbye to.

**Sakura: **Hoe?

* * *

**_Translations:_**

_Ohayo gozaimasu:_ The formal way of saying "Good morning". The less formal _'Ohayo'_ is used often between friends and family._  
_

_-san_: A general-use honorific that is most often used with non-family members, or people you just met. It is also used to address older people.

_oba-sama: _'_oba-san_' means aunt, while _-sama _is an honorific that confers greater respect than the usual _-san_. Since Yelan is of an important position in the Li Clan, this is what Mei Ling uses.

_okaa-sama: _ '_okaa-san_' meaning mother, this phrase translates roughly to "honorable mother". Syaoran addresses his mother as such similar to Mei Ling.

_-dono: _ An honorific that exaltes the person in question even higher than _-sama_. Because Wei is only a servant, he adresses Yelan as this.

_Omae wa Kakou-Ii! _- Omae literally translates to "the one in front of me" or "you" (in simple terms), and _kakou-ii_ meaning handsome, cool, wonderful... you get the idea.

_Fan Ren no baka!_ - "Fan Ren you idiot!" Baka means idiot, dummy, stupid...

_Yoroshiku!_ - An informal way of ending an introduction to oneself. Translates to "Pleased to meet you!"

As an extra note, 'Xiao Lang' (pronounced sh-a-o-laa-ng) is pronounced much the same way as Syaoran (sh-a-o-raa-n), his Japanese name. Because the japanese language has no "L" sound, the closest character they can use is 'ra', hence the difference in prononciation. I've used his Chinese name in speech becuase frankly, they're in China.


	2. Moving Out

Hello, minna-san. I'm back with my second chapter! While the first chapter concentrated on Syaoran's side of the story, this one will concentrate on Sakura's side. Hope you enjoy.

**The story so far**: Having sensed an evil threat in Japan, the Li Clan decided to dispatch Li Syaoran, heir to the Li Clan with a shy and stoic attitude; and his cousin Mei Ling, an energetic girl skilled in the martial arts, to search for and eventually work with the card mistress.

**

* * *

Chapter 2: Moving Out

* * *

**

_**  
Tokyo Prefecture, Japan**_

_**10:30 AM**_

"Unnn…" The mid-morning sun shone brightly as an auburn-haired girl opened her emerald eyes from her slumber. "W-Where am I? Oh yeah……"

After taking a moment to recollect her thoughts, she found herself on a train. Having a window seat, she was able to lean her head towards the window for comfort during her sleep.

"_So this is it now…. I'm… I'm really on my own."_

Looking at her reflection in the mirror, her mind wandered back to just this morning. After a tearful goodbye to her father that lived in Tomoeda, her place of residence since she was born, she boarded a train and was on her way to her future school. Since her new school was quite a ways away, she'd share a room with Naoko and Rika, who already moved in two days ago and were waiting for her. Right now she was feeling halfway between nervous and excitement. For one thing, she couldn't wait to experience dorm life firsthand! Not living under your parent's roof is a very exciting prospect to look forward to. However, the same situation can be used the opposite way, and some doubt entered her mind.

'_I'm feeling homesick already…_' she thought to herself, her mind wandering back to her old, cozy home which seemed so far away now. Shaking her head, she attempted to sweep those negative thoughts from her mind. '_It's alright. I'm going to be in a new place now. I'm going to make lots of friends and its going to be so much fun!_' she thought as she was thinking about how her new life would be like.

Still saying goodbye to everything you were familiar with since you were little is no easy task. Her mind slowly drifted and memories filled her head once again…

* * *

**-Flashback-**

**

* * *

**

_**Tomoeda, Japan: Kinomoto Residence**_

_**(About 1 month ago)**_

"_Tadaima!_" I shouted as I opened my front door.

"_Okaerinasai_, Sakura!"

"... oh look, the _kaijuu _came back."

"I AM NOT A MONSTER!" I growled back, kicking him in the shin.

"_ITAI!_" Touya shouted. "That's still tender!"

I stuck out my tongue out in response. "Serves you right!"

Touya hobbled upstairs grumbling below his breath. "_No matter how much I grow up, he calls me 'kaijuu' over and over again! Grrr… one of these days..."_

Fujikata let out a sweatdrop. "Well, I'll be in the kitchen finishing things up..."

"Umm… Tomoyo-_chan_, is this what happens everyday at the Kinomoto household?" A navy-haired boy behind me asked.

"Pretty much!" Tomoyo replied non-phased by the whole situation. "… According to Sakura-_chan_, anyway."

"I see, interesting…" Eriol replied deep in thought

"Oh! _Gomen nasai_! Eriol-_kun_, Tomoyo-_chan_, please have a seat!" I was suddenly feeling a tad self-conscious, beating up my brother in front of them and all. "Don't worry about Touya Eriol-_kun_, he'll recover! After all the times I beat him up, he should be used to it by now. Anyway, dinner should be ready in a few minutes!" I said hastily, while jogging over to the kitchen.

"Thanks again for inviting us." Eriol said back.

"… all the times she beat him up?" I overheard Eriol whispering to Tomoyo.

"Yup" came Tomoyo's simple reply.

* * *

"_Itadakimasu!_" the Kinomoto family, Eriol, Tomoyo, and Yukito chorused. 

And everyone dug in. I fingered my chopsticks a bit before I ate, looking at everyone around the table.

"_This may be the last time I see these people sit together at a table like this… wow, things sure are changing around here…"_

Changing around was an understatement, it seemed that everyone I ever knew were migrating to different parts of the globe. A few months back Touya announced that he and Yukito were accepting a study abroad position at the University of California, Berkley. I wasn't surprised when they mentioned "either we both pass, or we both fail" right before the placement exam. Those two were inseparable after all.

I let out a sigh. A few years ago I never thought I would actually miss Touya. But now, I'm actually going to miss the big lug. Even after the endless "_kaijuus_" thrown at me, I still know that he really cares, but has a hard time showing it. _'Hehe, he really is just shy on the inside'._ As for Yukito, I knew I would miss him if he ever left us. He's been kind, thoughtful, and so good to me. And at one time, he was the object of my affection. Even though I realized eventually that I only loved him as a close family member, a part of me still likes him in a different way, only if it's just a teeny bit.

And last but not least, he's the moon guardian of the cards I hold so dear! I was kind of worried what would happen if Yue was sent halfway across the world, but he assured me that everything would be okay, and he was really thoughtful of Yukito's well being as well. It seemsI wasn't the only one who noticed Yukito's desire to be with my brother... it looks like the stoic Yue surprisingly has a soft side. He always did think about the well-being of his other personality, even during the time Yukito wasn't aware of his presence. I smiled at the thought. I mean, even if he did err... almost kill me (many times at that) during the final judgment, he turned out to be a reliable companion, even helping me fend off Eriol's two guardians with Keroberos.

And not just Touya and Yukito, Eriol on the other hand…

"Sakura are you okay? You haven't even touched your food yet." I suddenly heard my father's voice ring through my ears.

"I'm okay!" I said while throwing a smile. "Just… thinking about things that's all."

After dinner was over, all of us sat down in the living room. I sat down at the right edge of the couch, with Tomoyo and Eriol to the right. On the big chair sat my father, and on the two cushions opposite of me sat Touya and Yukito, side by side.

"So Hiragizawa-_san_, I heard that you were going back to England. Sakura mentioned it once."

"That is correct Kinomoto-_san_." Eriol replied. "England is my place of birth after all. Japan is a very nice country and I had a great time. But… I do feel homesick once in a while."

"Homesick…" I thought to myself. Even though he doesn't look it, Eriol is much, much more older and mature than he looks. I looked up to him as my mentor, advisor, and almost a second father figure. If it wasn't for his help, I would have never been able to transform every single clow card into my own cards. In fact, he really is my half-father! But I guess as grown-up as Eriol might be, he still feels homesick like a person my age would feel.

"So you're from England? That place has a great historical feel to it I heard. I always wanted to take a vacation there sometime." added Yukito.

"Maybe you can drop me a line while I'm in America Tsukishiro-_san_. Maybe duringSummer Break you can come over and I'll show you and Touya-_san_ around."

"I'd like that."

"I still feel like Japan is my second-home too. After all I made so many friends and memories here." he said, flashing a smile at me. "It might not be long before I feel homesick about Japan too!"

"_How can you stand moving around like that Eriol? Doesn't it get lonely without your friends?" _my mind wandered again. Up until now, I never imagined a life without my house, Touya, my father, and my friends by me.

"Well it's not like I'm saying goodbye to all my friends… right?" Eriol said, grasping Tomoyo's shoulder gently while flashing one of his charming smiles.

Tomoyo blushed at his contact. "_Hai_."

It took a full 10 seconds to fully comprehend what Eriol just said. "_So he's not saying goodbye to everyone. Eriol just motioned to Tomoyo, Tomoyo said 'hai', Tomoyo likes Eriol, and..." _I looked from Eriol to Tomoyo, then back to Eriol, then finally back to Tomoyo. Suddenly my eyes popped open, finally realizing Eriol's actions.

"TOMOYO-_CHAN_!" I practically screamed, startling everyone in the house and probably our neighbors too. "You're going too?" Being surprised was an understatement. I was completely and utterly shocked to the core. I think I showed a good imitation for a fish.

"Yes I am Sakura-_chan_. I've always been really excited about going there! As you know, I'm aiming to become a fashion designer, since in my friend's opinion, I'm really good at!" Tomoyo said, flashing a smile at me.

Okay, yes she was really good at making costumes, that's something I can't deny, but still! I couldn't believe it! It was bad enough that my Touya, Yukito, and Eriol was going away! But now my best friend too?

"But, but, Tomoyo_-chan…_" I started to say in an almost begging tone.

"Now, now Sakura…" my father interrupted. "This is Tomoyo-_chan_'s own path that she has chosen for herself. You wouldn't want to ruin a once in a lifetime chance for your best friend would you?"

Clow Reed couldn't have said it better himself. I started to feel bad... I was about to say something really selfish! Nodding, I looked at Tomoyo with an apologetic look on my face. "I'm sorry Tomoyo-chan. I'm no good, acting all selfish and all." At this point tears started to appear in my eyes. "I hope you're happy in England. I'll miss you…"

Tomoyo suddenly wrapped me in a warm hug. "I'll miss you too Sakura-_chan_. This was one of the hardest decisions I ever made in my life after all."

Releasing Tomoyo, I continued. "And how I am I going to manage the cards myself without you guys here?" I could still see the water in front of my eyes, and it threatened to grow even more blurry. "I only got this far with you all helping me! I... I need you all."

Wiping my eyes, I looked again at everyone in the room and saw that they had the most confused look on their faces, like I was just spewing out crazy talk. I was half expecting them to be worried, but nobody in the room seemed to have that feeling at all. Suddenly they Tomoyo burst into a fit of giggles, and to my surprise Touya and Eriol followed suit. My father and Yukito just smiled. Being the most confused person in the room for a moment, I looked around in surprise, and I was thinking desperately on what I did to make them all... _laugh_ of all things!

"_A.. Ano, _what..." I said a little too softly. Eventually they all stopped their fit and gazed at me.

"Sakura_-chan_… you give your self far less credit that you deserve." said Yukito.

"Yes, I can't count how many times I was saved by you." said Tomoyo.

"Help you? It was always the other way around, _kaijuu_." said Touya.

"Sakura-_chan_, who was the one with the power to transform every single Clow Card?" said Eriol.

My father just smiled up at me. "Sakura-_chan_, after all that you faced, you'll be just fine."

"You've always had the courage and determination to face down any challenge that came your way, Sakura-chan. Even if a new threat arises, I'm sure you'll be able to handle it." Eriol added in.

"Yes, no matter where your friends and family are, always remember that we're in here… with you." Tomoyo said while placing the palm of her hand over her heart. Looking from side to side, everyone's eyes shone with sincerity and admiration. I couldn't help but be really touched by their attitude. Yes... they were right! How could I have not seen it? Gone were the days when I had to rely on everyone for advice and courage. Before I knew, I had grown into a very adept young magician, having the power to control even the elements at my whim, and being able to face any obstacle head on. Over time, slowly... but surely, my reliance on everyone turned the other way, and everyone relied upon me for support.

I was only thinking about how I was going to protect this town, and my loved ones... that I never noticed that I got stronger than I have ever imagined.

"You guys…" I said happily. Suddenly parting ways didn't seem so bad anymore.

* * *

_**The next day**_

"_Tadaima!_"

"_Okaerinasai_, Sakura!"

"... oh look, the _kaijuu _came back."

"I AM NOT A MONSTER!" I growled back, kicking him in the shin.

"_ITAI!"_ Touya shouted. "That's still tender!"

I stuck out my tongue out in response. "Serves you right!"

I immediately when upstairs and plopped on my bed. My TV was on again, with Kero playing yet another racing game. That seemed to be his favorite genre, he always played against Spinel Sun when Eriol came over, and they had constant matches that would last well over night. Last night, I literally had to kick them out to get any sleep.

"YES!" Kero's high, but loud voice interrupted me from the rest I was trying very hard to get. "I finally got a gold medal at the number 1 race in Class B! Class A here I come!... Oh... hi Sakura!" he immediately said as he took a glance at my somewhat annoyed face. "I'm sorry, go ahead and get some rest." he said as he turned off his gamestation and started to fly out the window.

Even when I knew how powerful and menacing Kero's true form can be, he still was one of the cutest things I ever had the chance of meeting. Looking at his face, I couldn't stay mad a second longer. "I'm not mad Kero, here I even bought some sweets I picked up before I got home!" I said, digging in my pocket and presenting a little treat.

"YAY! You're the best Sakura!" Kero cheered, flying over and unwrapping the chocolate with his little paws. "So how was your day?" he asked, mouth half full.

"It was so much fun Kero!" I said smiling, thinking of the events that just came to pass.

Today, Eriol, Tomoyo, Rika, Naoko, and I went out in our last 'friendly outing' before Tomoyo and Eriol had to leave. We had a blast! After eating at a nice place, skating, movies, and karaoke, I was all tired out! Hmm… I knew Tomoyo had a nice voice but I didn't know Eriol had a good one too! In fact Rika, Naoko, and I _insisted _that they do a duet together, and after much begging on my part, Tomoyo finally agreed to perform "A Whole New World" with Eriol, who, for some reason, showed a lot more enthusiasm than her. Tomoyo usually had much confidence singing, but at that time she was a nervous wreck! What really perked me was what happened after that, Eriol said something to Tomoyo and she gave a smile and immediately relaxed. When they sung... I can't really describe it in words... but it was beautiful.

I knew that Tomoyo really liked Eriol, and in a very different way from me. I think it started after I transformed the Light and the Dark cards, and I'mguessing their attraction just came naturally when they were both looking out for me and all. Ever since then, she's been acting rather different when he was around, acting a little quieter and more polite than usual. I wonder if Eriol likes her back? He seems friendly enough, and he did suggest Tomoyo going with him to England... I guess, I shouldn't be surprised if they were holding hands when they come back to Tomoeda, hehe.

It wasn't just me, but Rika and Naoko noticed as well, and they were trying _very _hard to get those two together, even involving me with their little plans. (Like convincing Tomoyo to sing!). Rika and Naoko were two friends of mine since elementary school. Naoko just loves horror and sci-fi stories, and I've seen that she's starting to write a few of her own. Taking full advantage of the internet, she posted her works on it. Within a month, she became one of the most popular authors on the net! Everyone seems to love her writing, and I think she has a bright future ahead of her.

Rika, on the other hand, is pretty shy and quiet compared to us. Still, she seems to love hanging out with friends and having a good time. Rika like to write too, just like Naoko! Instead of the horror/sci-fi genre though, she leans more toward the romance/drama genre. Having read almost all of her stories, I think she's a very talented writer too! With her stories being very cute and heartwarming, that's probably the reason I've been reading more of her stories than Naoko's, because Naoko's stories just creep me out!

Tomoyo also really loved Rika's stories, and she even produced a play of one back in elementary school. Needless to say, the whole school loved it! Even people who hated anything sappy was quite moved by her story. One time we asked her where she got her inspiration from, and she told me that her inspiration comes from her "first, and only love". We immediately became curious. Tomoyo and Naoko was considering doing some rather... _unfair _methods to get her to spill, but she was so nice that doing so would've been just wrong. So, we tried to find out ourselves...

Two years later, we still haven't found out. Too bad, I would've loved to meet him.

Despite that, it hasn't stopped the three of us from endlessly teasing Eriol and Tomoyo though!

So Eriol has Tomoyo, Touya has Yukito, Rika has some mystery guy, and Naoko… well I once caught her corresponding rather intimately with a fellow author over the internet.

My love life? I did like Yukito once, a very long time ago. It was a silly crush, though, and when Yue offered to help clear my thoughts for me, something interesting happened, and ever since then, there's this certain person that's been on my mind...

What happened? Who is it?

Well..

... It's a secret!

"Sakura-_chan_?" I heard my father's voice from the other side of my door.

I immediately got up and opened the door. "_Hai_, what is it _otou-san_?"

"I just got a letter addressed for you." he said, the happiness very evident in his eyes. "Here, I'll leave you alone so you can read it."

He closed the door. However, I could sense that my father and brother were standing right behind my door. What could possibly be in this letter?

"What are you waiting for Sakura?" I heard Kero's voice, "Open the letter!"

My eyes wandered and settled on the return address. **_Kageyama Gakuen_**

"_Kageyama Gakuen_... hey Sakura, isn't that the super prestigious secondary school that you tested for a while back? You said something about it being your number one choice and..." I didn't pay attention to the rest of what Kero was saying, as I stared at the letter, my body trembling.

"_No way…"_ my heart practically skipped a beat. "_Could it be?"_

I hastily opened the envelope and read the first letter.

**------------**

**August 10, 20xx**

**To Kinomoto Sakura-_sama_:**

**CONGRATULATIONS! It is with great honor to inform you that you have been admitted to Kageyama Gakuen for the 20xx school year. We are pleased you have chosen Kageyama High to meet your secondary education needs.**

**Your admission has been granted based upon your overall GPA, test scores, and extra-curricular activities that you…**

-----------

I didn't get a chance to read the rest of it as my family burst through my bedroom door.

"CONGRATULATIONS SAKURA!"

I was surprised to hear more than two voices uttering that phrase. I looked behind my father and Touya to see Tomoyo, Eriol, Rika, and Naoko here cheering me on. I barely noticed Kero stiffen back to his stuffed animal form. It's a good thing he did too, because I only had one thing on my mind at this moment.

"Everyone…!" I said almost speechless. "But… but… how did you know? I'm sure the letter was sealed when I opened it!"

"Oh Sakura-_chan_!" Tomoyo explained with a really big smile on her face. "Everyone knows that a fat envelope means you got accepted, while a thin one means rejection!"

"Hoe… I didn't know!"

"Yes, that's why as soon as you got home, I hastily called all your friends over for a sort of 'impromptu' surprise party!" my father explained.

I ran and hugged each and every one of them.

"Thank you! Thank you! This really means a lot to me, it really does!"

"Oh yeah guess what Sakura?" Rika said to me. In a flash, Rika and Naoko held up a letter similar to mine.

"We made it in too!" Naoko finished.

My eyes immediately lit up.

* * *

_**Kinomoto Residence: Living Room**_

_**15 minutes later**_

Rika and Naoko, couldn't stay much longer unfortunately. Ever since they received news of their acceptance, they went through quite a hectic packing and planning frenzy with their families and were needed home as soon as possible. After bidding them farewell, I turned back to the rest of my friends and family, letter still in hand.

"I still can't believe…" I said fumbling with the letter in my hand for the umpteenth time. I flipped it upside down, sideways... and even fingered the official seal to check if it was genuine. "… I was accepted! I know I have pretty good grades, but I was sure my math skills would bring me down!"

"_Oi kaijuu_, are you sure you just didn't use magic to cheat?" Touya suddenly accused. I was caught very much off-guard.

"HOE! I-I would never…!" I said, trying to find my words.

"Hmm... now that you mention it..." I heard Kero say as he flew in front of my face. "Don't you think it's a little odd that you got in so easily?" the sun guardian mused, his little paw rubbing his chin in a thinking fashion.

"That's pretty clever Sakura." Eriol added in, an all-knowing smile on his face. "Even though I question the morality of your actions, I am no less impressed that you were able to perform magic in such a crowded place like a test hall, without getting caught."

"Sakura..." I heard Tomoyo say. I couldn't take it anymore! Everyone, including my own best friend, thought I was being one big fake!

"I'm... I'm not..." I started to say, eyes threatening to flood with tears... until I saw them all smiling gleefully at me in an instant.

"It's okay Sakura, we all know you would never do that!" my father said reassuringly. Everybody nodded in agreement.

"Sorry for teasing ya!" Kero patted my shoulder comfortably. "It was Tomoyo's idea!"

I looked at Tomoyo with the most annoyed expression I can muster up, only to fail miserably. "I'm sorry Sakura-_chan _but you look so _kawaii _when you get flustered over any little thing! And I just had to see you pout one last time before I go! And that little mad face you have on right now looks so _KAWAII! _Oh, if only I had my video camera right now..." she trailed off, stars in her eyes.

(A/N: I know you pictured this already, but needless to say, everyone except Tomoyo let out a huge sweatdrop. )

"So Sakura-chan, are you going to accept?" Eriol inquired.

I was about to reply a cheerful "_Hai!_" when my mind suddenly thought of something. Kageyama Gakuen, it was in the Tokyo Prefecture, which is right next to the Chiba Prefecture, where Tomoeda was located. However Tomoeda and Kageyama Gakuen were pretty much at opposite ends of their respective prefectures. It would take too long to get there by foot. However by train…

"Umm… it'd take me a long time to get there, even by train. 45 minutes at most? That's ok though… because…"

"Sakura..." my father interrupted. "Listen, I've thought for a while about this, and if you're indeed going to attend Kageyama then you'll have to move out and live somewhere closer."

He said it. My father just said the two words that I've been dreading to hear. I just got through dealing with so much already... high school starting, clow cards, Eriol and Tomoyo... and I had them all resolved and sealed up tight. Hearing those two words once again opened up the floodgates and all my anxiety just came flooding out.

"M-m-m-m-m-m-move out? But _otou-san_!" I pleaded, "I can stay here and commute! It would be no trouble at all!"

"I'm afraid it would be." my father started, and if it was possible, my face fell further. "You see, I just got this promotion from the University, andI'm going to be going on excavation trips all across the world. So, I'm afraid I won't be home most of the time. I know you can take care on your own Sakura, but that's not the only reason.In additon,commuting from herewould be a very big hassle; and since its so far away, you'll be distanced from high school life itself. Besides, it would be good for you to move out and experience that kind of life firsthand. Trust me it's much more rewarding than you think. I think you'll just get lonely staying here."

"Yeah, Sakura_-chan_! Rika and Naoko are moving to Kageyama Gakuen's dorms. I'm sure they would welcome you to stay with them!" Tomoyo added.

I, however, remained quite doubtful "I don't know, I--I have to think about it!" I replied quickly, bolting for my room, rushing up the stairs in a hurry. I heard someone call my name but I just ignored it.

* * *

I shut my door and lay down on my bed face first. 

I was a coward. Plain and simple. I may face danger with courage, magical creatures with an unyielding will, but not real life.

My father and Tomoyo made a lot of good points why I should go. I mean, any _normal_ person would be excited.

So why wasn't I? I just felt like… like… I wasn't ready yet. Wasn't mature enough.

I thought about Eriol, Tomoyo, Rika, Naoko, Touya, and Yukito. They were all just thrilled about leaving this town. Me, on the other hand…

And yesterday they just praised me for being the greatest sorceress on earth. What an embarrassment I was…

_knock knock_

"Sakura-_chan_ may I come in?" I heard Eriol from behind my door.

I didn't respond.

Hearing a creak and then the bed shifting weight, I knew he let himself in and sat himself right in front of me.

"So Sakura-_chan_, feeling a bit overwhelmed aren't you?"

I simply nodded, keeping my face buried in my pillow.

"Scared of the outside world aren't you?"

Another nod.

"Hard to imagine life without your father's support, your friends' encouragement, or even your brother's teasing?"

Yet another nod.

"Well Sakura-_chan_, I can't say I know how you feel."

Finally, I raised my head, and looked up at him, questioningly.

"I can't say I ever had the comfort of a father-figure, nor an older sibling to watch over me." he said, a slight expression of envy flashing on his face.

"Eriol_-kun_…"

He smiled down at me. "You could say that made going from place to place easier for me. For example, when I went to Japan to meet you, I didn't feel like I was leaving behind anybody. In fact, my two guardians even accompanied me here."

After seeing no change in my facial expression, he continued.

"But you know what? Thinking about leaving Japan, leaving all the new friends I made and the memories here behind… It kind of makes me sad, and gives me second thoughts about going back to England..." he trailed off. Contrary to what I showed, I was very surprised he was talking with me in this way. Even though I've known him for quite a while, he was always keeping his same, smiling, guarded expression, even when he was giving me advice back in the day. This is the first time I ever had a personal heart-to-heart talk with him, and to be honest, the reason why I haven't said anything up to now, is because I wasn't quite sure what to say back.

"... so, in a way I understand how you feel, Sakura-_chan_."

"So how is it…", I finally said, "How is it you can bear moving back, knowing what you'll leave behind?"

"It's simple Sakura-chan. I know I'm leaving behind Naoko-chan, Rika-chan, and you Sakura. But you all will always be in my heart, wherever you go. Besides I won't be alone. Spinel, Nakuru, and Tomoyo-_chan_ is coming with me. Plus, I get to see Kaho again. Besides..." he paused hesitantly, not quite sure if he wanted to continue. I didn't say a word, to allow him to continue on with his thought.

"Besides... I think I'm in love with _Tomoyo._" he finally said, using her name in a very intimate way. "I think I'd follow her to the ends of the earth, you know?"

"……"

"…… that sounded kind of cheesy didn't it?" Eriol said with a slight grin.

"Hoe? No, not at all! I think it's great you have someone so special to you, and Tomoyo--" I put a hand over my mouth, stopping myself just in time. Recollecting my thoughts, I continued. "But… heh… I don't have someone like that…"

"Well Sakura-_chan_, in your case your friends are coming with you, so it's kind of similar to my situation. Also, when you go into a new place, you get to see more things, expand your horizons… and even make new friends! I had some friends back in England, but I made even more since coming to Japan. Now I have even more friends to share talk and laugh with!"

"So, I learned that expanding your circle of friends is very rewarding! I think that's what Kinomoto-_san_ was trying to tell you."

"_Expanding your circle of friends huh?"_ Somehow, that prospect alone made me feel really anxious inside, in a good way.

"… plus commute would be a pain too you know?" Eriol added.

I got up off the bed, feeling that a great weight's been lifted off my shoulders. For the first time this month I felt like the good old, genki Sakura. After I got up, I immediately gave Eriol a hug.

"I think… I think…" I started, almost talking next to his ear. "I understand now Eriol-_kun_. Why everyone's so excited about going to new places! Thank you so much! Really!" I released the hug, and bowed in front of him. "You always seem to know the right thing to say."

"Anytime Sakura-_chan._" he replied, a bright smile crossing his face. "Now let's head downstairs and tell the happy news to everyone else."

"_Hai!"_

_

* * *

_

_**Narita International airport**_

_**(1 week ago)**_

Eriol's and Touya's flight times happened to be at the same time, coincidentally. Although their flights were all the way at Narita; my father, Rika, Naoko, and I came to see them off. Being two separate flights, my father and Kero went with Yukito and Touya to their baggage check-in (probably for some father-to-son and guardian-to-guardian talks) while Rika, Naoko, and I stood in line with Eriol, Tomoyo, and Nakuru with Spinel on her shoulder. When we got to the front desk, Eriol and Tomoyo checked in their bags with no trouble. Nakuru on the other hand...

"WHAT was that?"

"I'm sorry ma'am." the person at the desk said nervously. "But we must charge an extra 5000 yen for the black cat. We have to place it in one of our special storage containers on the plane and..."

"Who said ANYTHING about checking in this cat? Suppi-_chan _will ride on the plane with me, thank you very much!"

"But ma'am..."

Seeing Nakuru argue, we decided to step off a little farther to the side, pretending we didn't know her...

We chatted endlessly about everything and anything. Even though we knew that the dreaded time would come, it was like such a time didn't exist, and we were chatting and joking like it was any normal day at school. Soon enough, the announcement came...

**Flight 209 to London Hearthrow Airport, is now boarding!**

"I still can't believe I won't see you for a whole six months Tomoyo-chan!" I said, wrapping her in a tight hug. "It really won't be the same without you two here." I added, looking at Eriol as well.

"I'll miss you too Sakura-_chan_." Tomoyo said with a hint of sadness in her voice. "Don't worry, everything will be okay. We can always communicate by phone or e-mail. Plus, you still have Naoko and Rika, so you won't be lonely." I smiled back.

'_No I won't be lonely, because I'll make lots and lots of new friends too, and I'll tell you about them someday!' _I thought, stealing a glance at Eriol, who not surprisingly, was smiling back at me. He always did know somehow what others were thinking about. _'If only he knew what Tomoyo-chan was thinking about'. _I chuckled to myself.

"Besides, you never know..." Tomoyo continued as she was still wrapped in the embrace. "... you might find _him _someday."

"_Him…_" I thought. "Y--yeah right Tomoyo-_chan_, I mean, what are the chances of that happening?"

"You never know, don't you believe in destiny, Sakura-_chan_?" Rika asked behind me.

"H-Hoe…"

"Well anyways, don't forget…" Tomoyo added, "You always have your invincible spell, Sakura!"

"Thanks!" I said, letting Tomoyo go.

"But… but… I'm soooo going to miss filming your _kawaii _moments. Oh my, what should I do?" she mused, looking up a the ceiling with tier-stricken star-struck eyes.

I let out a huge sweatdrop. _'Tomoyo will always be Tomoyo' _"I'm sure you'll cope somehow." I replied, patting her on the back.

Leaving Eriol and the others to snap Tomoyo back to reality, I looked to the left at the other line with the passengers to San Francisco. Seeing that Touya and Yukito have just finished loading their luggage, I ran up to them to see them off.

I went up to Yukito first and hugged him. "Have a good time! Tell Yue for me too!"

He hugged back. "I will, Sakura. I think he's just having a nervous fit right now. I know we agreed on it earlier, but he somehow just can't stand being separated this far from his master. Keroberos tried to calm him down, but the only thing Yue said back was something about him being irresponsible." Yukito chuckled. "Yue doesn't show it much, but he's quite fond of you."

I smiled back. "Tell him not to worry about me, all the dangers have passed in Tomoeda, so it isn't too likely I'll need his help anytime soon. Also, if I really need Yue's help, he'll know..." Releasing the hug I looked left to see Touya waiting impatiently.

"Let's go Yukito, our flight leaves in 5 minutes." he was about to turn around, but I jumped into his arms before he could do so.

"_Onni-chan_…" I said, while hugging him tight. "I'll miss you too…"

"... the _kaijuu _is strangling me." Touya responded in mock fright, returning the hug. My father just laughed softly, and Yukito and Kero smiled. We stayed together like that for about half a minute before I stepped back and gave him a good kick in the shin.

"_ITAI!_" Touya shouted. "That's still tender!"

Instead of my usual sticking out of my tongue, I gave him a smile. "It serves you right!"

Touya smiled back.

**Flight 112 to San Francisco International Airport, now boarding!**

"That's our cue..." he nodded at Yukito. _Otou-san_, _kaijuu_, stuffed animal, _Sayonara_!"

"_Sayonara_!" Yukito added.

"Goodbye!" I yelled.

And they both disappeared into the mass of people.

"... _stuffed animal_?" Kero said in wonder. "I can't believe he has the nerve to call me a _stuffed animal_! I'm the proud and mighty Keroberos, guardian of the Sakura Cards! I'm even as powerful as..." I quickly covered his mouth and stuffed him in my pocket as I noticed Eriol and Tomoyo coming from behind, with Rika and Naoko in tow.

"It seems that Nakuru and Spinel went ahead of us." Eriol said, motioning at Tomoyo toward the gate "I guess it's time for us to leave too."

"Yes, Rika-_chan_, Naoko-_chan_, Sakura-_chan_ take care of yourselves. Have fun in Kageyama Gakuen!" Tomoyo said as she turned her head following Eriol.

"We will!" the three of us chorused.

And they too, disappeared through the gate.

"So that's it, they're really gone…" Rika muttered.

"Yeah…" Naoko added.

"But no worries right?" I said, hugging the both of them from behind. The three of us gave wide grins.

"Right!"

And so the three of us, and my dad, started to head back to the parking garage to get back home to Tomoeda. As we were walking by, suddenly a weird feeling coursed through my veins. Kero seemed to notice my sudden stop, and peeked out of my pocket to make sure no one was watching. "What's wrong Sakura?" Kero whispered.

Not responding, I turned to the left to try to pinpoint the source. My eyes fell upon two distinct people, just exiting a gate.

"Ah we finally made it to Japan, doesn't it feel good to finally get off the plane?" said a slim girl with ruby eyes and waist length black hair.

"Yeah whatever…" replied an amber-eyed boy with unruly chestnut hair.

Suddenly the weird feeling I felt before intensified. My heart raced as I tried to identify who those two were. "_Who are they?… I feel like I…"_

"Hey Sakura? How long are you going to stand there?" Naoko suddenly shouted at me quite a ways in front of me.

The feeling dissipated almost as soon as it appeared, as I snapped back to reality "Coming!" I shouted, jogging forward to catch up with my companions.

* * *

**-End Flashback-**

**

* * *

**

Even now, I still couldn't shake that weird sensation I felt back at Narita... it was something she has never experienced before. It wasn't anything physical, she was sure of that. Perhaps it was magical... she was getting stronger and might be able to pick up distinct auras that she couldn't have before. But still, the feeling she felt was much more than a simple aura... 

_'Well I guess it's ok to leave it at that. One things for sure, those two were not bad people, I'm sure of that. So it's nothing to be immediately concerned about." _Looking up the window, I saw a familiar clock tower, the same one I saw many months ago when I decided to take that fateful entrance exam.

"_Almost there…"_ I thought anxiously.

**To be continued**

**

* * *

**

**Preview for the next chapter:**

**Sakura: **Ah! So this is Kageyama Gakuen. What a nice, clean place!

**Chiharu: **Nice school isn't it, Sakura? By the way, I get to make my appearance next chapter!

**Yamazaki: **Me too! By the way, did you know why stories are divided into chapters now? It's because 1000 years ago, a king by the name of "Chaptero" was getting constantly annoyed by long books that had too much random stuff in it. He couldn't find what he wanted to research half the time, so therefore…

**Chiharu: **(bonks Yamazaki) Stop telling lies!

**Yamazaki: **But it's true I swear!

**Mei Ling: **Hey! Did everyone forget about us?

**Syaoran: **Apparently they did…

**Chiharu: **Next time on 'A Feeling So Strong': Chapter 3: The Fated Meeting. See you then!

**Eriol: **The fated meeting of two lovers, perhaps?

**Sakura: **Hoe...

* * *

**_Translations:_**

_Tadaima_: "I'm home!" A very common phrase used in everyday life.

_Okaerinasai_: "Welcome home!" Another common phrase.

_Itadakimasu:_ "Thank you for the meal!" An even more common phrase that is said before one starts eating, formally or informally, in a group or alone.

_kaijuu: _"Monster" As most CCS fans know, Touya likes to tease Sakura by calling her this.

_Itai_: Literally translates to painful, but can also be used as a phrase, like "Ouch!"

_Hai:_ Means 'yes', 'right', 'okay'. Also used as a question phrase, and for confirming attendance at school.

_-chan_: An very informal suffix, usually used for young girls (and even boys), pets, and for close friends. It is also often used for teenagers and adults in intimate relationships, as _-chan_ gives off a cute, childish feeling.

_-kun_: Also less formal than -san, this suffix is used for young boys, or for males of about the same age. Also, used when adressing people of a lower status (such as an underclassman).

_Ano...:_ 'Umm...' 'Hmm...' It's more an uttered phrase than an actual word, used when you're trying to get attention, trying to think what you're going to say, etc...

_kawaii_: Cute

_otou-san:_ Father

_onni-chan:_ _'onni-san'_ means older brother, but _-chan_ is sometimes used between closer siblings.

_Sayonara:_ 'Goodbye', but not like "see you tommorow" or "see you later", but more like "until we meet again", as in you don't know when you will see each other again.

An extra note: (( I think I'm in love with _Tomoyo._" he finally said, using her name in a very intimate way)) The reason it's very intimate is because Eriol said Tomoyo's name, her_ first_ name, without a suffix. Leaving out a suffix, usually means that you're _very _close to the said person. Although suffixes or often dropped for friends, for it being the opposite sex implies a much more intimate meaning. Note, that he doesn't call Tomoyo this in front of her yet.

So... I hope you enjoyed your Japanese lesson, haha.


	3. The Fated Meeting

A/N: Hello again everyone. I have to admit I had a headache writing this chapter. In my humble opinion, I really suck at writing anything... fluffy. (sweatdrops) Anyways, enjoy the read, and please tell me what you think!

**Summary from last chapter:** Sakura was very distressed about the mass exodus of his family and friends. Even her best friend Tomoyo was leaving! Eventually she accepted this fate thanks to their reassurances. However, when Sakura discovered that she would have to move out herself, she was overwhelmed! With a little lecture from Eriol, however, she calmed down and was ready to face it. And so, Sakura heads steadfastly into her new life at Kageyama Gakuen!

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Fated Meeting**

* * *

_Dreams are one of life's greatest mysteries. To put it scientifically, it is a series of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations occuring involuntary in the mind during certain stages of sleep. It could be a jumbled recollection of the events you have experienced, or even forgotten. It can show your deepest desires, or reveal your most terrible fears. Luckily, for normal people, dreams are just that, whatever your mind decides to imagine in your sleep._

_Of course, I'm no normal person._

_Being attuned to the mystical arts as a child, I have learned to interpret dreams differently than most people. Because of my bloodline and magical affinity, in some cases, the dreams that I experience are more than just dreams. It could be a premonition, or even a future warning. You could say I was more 'aware' of myself during those times, meaning that sometimes, I knew it was a dream._

_To tell you the truth, I didn't treasure this 'gift' of mine very much. I don't remember the last time I had a 'good' dream. And this dream I'm experiencing now is definitely not good at all._

_I was walking through what seemed to be some kind of forest. It wasn't any normal forest, as I couldn't see a thing above the treeline's canopy. It seemed so surreal, as I would try to go in a direction but some kind of invisible force was stopping me._

_There was only one direction where the forest allowed me to go, and I took it. Eventually I reached a clearing. I stepped onto it, the sky above me showed itself for the first time. It was a nighttime sky with now clouds, but for some reason, it was raining very heavily, with many flashes of thunder accompanying. For some reason, the rain spalshed harmlessly on me, and I didn't feel wet at all._

_I saw a small cave carved into the mountain in a short distance, and I entered the cave in question. Though completely dark, I could see quite clearly in the cave and I walked on, wondering where it would take me._

_Suddenly I felt my heart get heavy, as if a great load was placed on it. I started to feel uneasy, my breath quickening, my heart rate rising, my muscles twitching involuntarily in pain. What caused this? Looking forward, I saw what looked like to be a two flames roaring against each other. One was totally black, as if it whatever it consumed found nothingness. The other flame was bright green, and was desperately trying to hold back the black flame's path._

_In an instance, the both flames seem to burn out, and what was left seemed to be three figures. On the left side was a very hazy figured object, I couldn't make out the size and shape of it at all. On the right side were three figures, each shaped like children. One seemed to be knocked on the ground, and the other two between the hazy figure and the downed figure, seemingly to shield the downed figure from harm._

_"Why are you doing this!" I suddenly heard the protector's voices. It was a boy's voice._

_"To prevent any of you from ever becoming a threat to me!" replied the hazy-figured substance._

_The hazy figure slowly, but surely moved closer and closer to the other three. It had such a menacing and paralyzing effect as it kept its advance. I couldn't move an inch.The lone standing figure, seemingly realizing that they were cornered, merged closer with the other, looking like it was attempting to make a last stand._

_Suddenly, the figure downed on the ground started to emit light, and started to become visible. It was still very unclear, butI could make out the child to be a little girl, trembling with fright._

_"Help me!"_

_The two other child-like figures suddenly lunged at the hazy figure, taking it head on. "Haaaaa!" the hazy object shouted, and shot a pure red beam at the three of them..._

_

* * *

_

_**Somewhere above Tokyo**_

_**11:00 AM**_

**-Syaoran-**

**Attention all passengers, this is your captain speaking. In about 15 minutes, we will be landing at Narita International Airport, so please make sure you have all your belongings with you before you leave the plane. As a special treat for the passengers that have a window seat on the left side, if you look down and a little to the right, you can see a great overhead view of the Tokyo Tower. We hope you enjoyed your flight courtesy of Hong Kong Airlines.**

"Oh, oh! Syaoran!" My consciousness was brought back to the real world by a loud screeching voice that could only belong to one person I know.

"Syaoran!" I heard again, feeling the person shaking my body violently in my seat. Rubbing my still drooping head on the window. "Move your big head! I wanna see!" Since I was still half asleep, it didn't really come out in any comprehensible words at the moment, but only as unwanted noise.

"Mei Ling could you keep it down?" I grunted. I was definitely NOT in a good mood at the moment. "I just woke up you know!"

"But, but look down there!" she practically yelled at me, pointing out the window. "Tokyo Tower! Wow, it's bigger than I imagined!" Trying to snap awake, I followed her finger. I looked down and then saw the great city of Tokyo, spotting the bright red and white spire known as Tokyo Tower. Looking back at Mei Ling, I sighed.

"Look, I'll switch seats with you. just promise that you'll leave me alone for a while."

Her eyes lit up. "You got yourself a deal!" she replied. Through much commotion an unwanted body impacts, we managed to do just that.

_'Geez. Mei Ling can be such a child sometimes.'_ I thought, briefly debating whether the Li Clan picked the right person as his partner.

Trying to shut off the noise from the other people in our cabin, I closed my eyes, trying to getmy mindto wanderback to the dream I was so rudely interrupted. '_What a strange dream.'_ Like most people, when he woke up, he barely remembered any of the details of his dream, although he could still feel the overall impact of it. Thinking to himself, he tried to recall all the elements of that dream that was still in his mind.

_A cave._

_A hazy figured object._

_Something about a threat._

_A little girl._

_"What does this mean?"_ I thought with frustration. _"Is it all a vision? A past event? Someone else's thoughts? Arg! If only I could remember it all!" _I tried to draw some conclusions from it, trying to connect it with any memory I had, with no luck.

_"Then again, maybe this is just some stupid dream my mind conjured up. Still, it seemed like this isn't the first time I felt like that, for some reason. But, I'm sure I've never witnessed that event before! So why…?"_

"Ooooh! I knew I shouldn't have left my camera with my luggage!" I once again heard some unwanted noise, this time to the left.

"Mei Ling! This isn't a vacation!"

* * *

_**Japan, Chiba Prefecture**_

**_Narita_** **_International Airport_**

_**11:30**_

"So Xiao Lang, what do you want to do first? Let's go see Tokyo Tower! Can we? I heard that..."

"The FIRST thing we're going to do." I interrupted, putting emphasis on the word 'first', "is to head for Kageyama Gakuen and get settled in. After that, we can began our search for our targets.

"_Mou..._ Syaoran, you're no fun!" Mei Ling replied with an annoyed tone. "We're in a place we've never been to before! Might as well see the sights right?"

"There will be time for that later. You do forget we also start high school in a little less than a week. And it's _Kageyama Gakuen _at that, not those super-easy public schools. We should really head over there and get acquainted with the place." I reminded her.

"... fine! Have it your way, oh great leader." Mei Ling replied with a "hmph!"

Narita is the busiest international airport in Japan, and all day, people fly in or out to all over the globe, and today was no exception. After finally finishing the long and painstaking process known as customs, and the equally long and frustrating process called luggage pickup, we finally reached the huge, magestic airport lobby. It was then when, Mei Ling and I took our first real steps on Japanese soil. Well, not really 'soil' but you know what I mean.

"Ah we finally made it to Japan, doesn't it feel good to get off the plane?" Mei Ling said to me, stretching her arms.

"Yeah whatever." I automatically replied.

All of a sudden, I popped my eyes open in awareness. It was but only an instant, but my senses were suddenly overwhelmed. It was gone like the wind, but it was present long enough for me to be aware of it. It wasn't anything physical, or even magical for that matter, but it was powerful enough to leave an impression on me.

"Syaoran, what's wrong?" Meiling asked beside me. She obviously, sensed the sudden change in my facial expression.

"I don't know. but I just felt something." I answered looking around for a bit. The only thing he noticed that was remotely out of the ordinary was a girl with glasses shouting at someone to hurry, but it's not like that was something to worry over.

"Do you think it could be the evil presence, or maybe the card mistress?" Mei Ling suggested.

I shook my head. "I don't know, that strange feeling was only here for a moment. Maybe it was nothing. But keep your guard up just in case Mei Ling."

"Right." She replied, as we cautiously continued walking.

Eventually we relaxed once I sensed nothing within a 10-mile radius around us. Mei Ling's hightened senses didn't really notice anything either, and it was drowned out by the busy airport anyway. Feeling very relieved, Mei Ling and I grabbed a bite to eat. As I was eating, my mind was still bothered by what I felt that time. It was even stranger that it happened right after I had such a mysterious dream. I didn't believe in coincidence, so I was wondering if the two were related. Perhaps it could be somebody or something with strong magical power revealing itself for only a split second. But then, he was pretty sure it had nothing to do with magic, as he thought before.

In the end, he just put it in the back of his mind. It was way too confusing and there was too many variables... it might've been himself showing a slight headache or something. After lunch, we grabbed our luggage and came upon the airport lobby. I immediately started looking for a taxi...

... Only to find a huge limo waiting for us.

"You are Li-_sama_ correct?"

"That's right." I answered.

"Your mother has requested that we take you to your new place of residence." The chauffer replied. Here, these attendants will take your luggage. Just sit back and relax while we drive you there!"

"Wow!" Mei Ling chirped. "Now this is traveling in style!"

_"Okaa-san, you sure prepared every little detail, didn't you?" _I thought.

* * *

_**Tokyo Prefecture, Japan**_

_**Kageyama Gakuen**_

_**1 Week Later**_

_**10:30 AM**_

**Attention passengers, the next stop will be the Kageyama Gakuen Eki. Repeat: Next stop, Kageyama Gakuen Station.**

"_I'm almost there!"_ Sakura said to herself inaudibly. She was feeling a whole bunch of emotions: eagerness, curiosity, nervousness… Standing up, and picking up the rolling handle of her luggage, she looked at her sun-adorned reflection in one of the sliding door windows. "_I hope I can fit in! I wonder how hard high school really is? Gotta make a good first impression! Uh oh, is my uniform on all right? Noooo my collar isn't straight enough!"_

By the time the train arrived, she almost thought she would faint from worrying.

**We have arrived at: Kageyama Gakuen Station. For those getting out, please watch your step.**

The shinkansen was sparsely populated at the time, because the school year hasn't officially begun yet. Stepping out of the train, Sakura took her first step as a real student at Kageyama Gakuen. She didn't know how, but today, the grass seemed a little greener, the air a little fresher, and the buildings a lot less older today. As she walked slowly to the main pathway, she saw the infamous clock tower nestled above the school's main administration building. The whole school seemed like a mini replica of a classic, English university... and this was only a secondary school!

"Wow! It's so… so… big!" Sakura almost shouted. At that statement, she noticed that many people looked around to try to find the source of the sudden outburst. Their eyes turned and fixed a confusing stare at the person responsible for it. Frantically, she looked around. All she could do was turn a few shades of red.

"Sorry!" Sakura said a little louder than intended, and performing a much deeper bow than intended. "I was just excited, th-that's all!" she finished with a sheepish smile.

Most of them let out a small giggle before they went about their business.

"_Hoe… I really have to stop doing that… you're making a bad first impression!" _she thought, as she continued to stare at the massive high school. She couldn't help it though, even if she did go here once before, the ambience of the school was still very breathtaking.

"The huge building you see before you is none other than Kageyama Gakuen's main campus building." an unfamiliar female voice started speaking. "It was founded in 1955 by the prestigious Kageyama Satoshi. He graduated with top honors in Touzai, majoring in architecture. His inspiration to pass on knowledge to younger generations was his motivating factor in creating this school. He was also a genius in his field, and was able to design a classical English style look that was the envy of all Japan! Today, this school is among the best college prep schools in Japan. Almost 95 percent of the graduating seniors makes it in to the school of their choice! The courses however, are as rigorous and challenging as any college class, so it's definitely not a walk in the park…"

"Hoe…" I said in amazement, turning my head to locate the owner of the voice.

To Sakura's side stood a girl about her age with light brown eyes and long brown hair, tied up into two buns. She was wearing a light yellow shirt with a darker yellow skirt. Sakura's first impression of her was that yellow was definitely her favorite color. _'She's so pretty... yellow suits her well'_.

"Did that satisfy your curiosity enough?" she smiled.

"_Hai!"_ Sakura replied, bowing. "Thank you very much!"

"_Iie_, not a problem at all! Seeing how impressed you were just looking at the school, I figured you were new."

"Eh heh heh…" Sakura let out a nervous laugh. '_Was I that obvious?'_

"... of course, the luggage you're rolling around is a dead giveaway too..."

"Hoe..."

"Well guess what? I'm new here too!"

At that Sakura widened her eyes in surprise. "Wow, unlike me, you sure know a lot more about Kageyama than I do… the only thing I knew for sure was the name…" Sakura said with a sweatdrop.

"Is that so…. well now you know more about it! Actually, did you think I did a good job explaining?"

"Yeah, that was perfect!" Sakura replied confidentially. "You sounded just like a professional tour guide!"

"That's great! Now I know I'll do well doing this from now on!"

"Really?… Wait a minute…" Sakura pondered. "You're just an incoming freshman, and the school is hiring you as a tour guide?"

"Yes, even though I am a freshman, I've been a TA here for the past few years while I was in Junior High. In fact, you could say I know this place like the back of my hand!"

"_Sugoi_…" Sakura said full of admiration.

"Well I've got to get to the dorms now! They're just starting to move in now! And my boy-- I mean roommate might be a bit annoyed if I don't get there in about 20 minutes…." the girl said, looking at the time on her cell phone. "By the way, I didn't catch your name yet. I'm Mihara Chiharu! _Yoroshiku!_" she cheerfully said, holding out her hand.

"Kinomoto… Kinomoto Sakura." Sakura replied nervously as she shook her hand.

"Catch you later then, Kinomoto-_san_!" Chiharu said as she walked off.

"_Mihara Chiharu… what a nice person. I hope we can become good friends!" _Sakura smiled as she was glad she already made a new acquaintance in such a short amount of time. "_You were right, Eriol-kun. trying to expand your circle of friends really is a fun thing to do!"_

"_Let's see where should I head to first? Let's see, with this luggage I'm carrying around, I probably should check in with Rika and Naoko and start settling in."_ Sakura thought, thinking where the dorms might be. "_Wait a minute, didn't Chiharu-san say they were getting ready to move everything in… and in about 20 minutes too?"_

"…"

"HOE!" she almost screamed, once again grabbing the attention of nearby passerbys. _"CHOTTO MATTE!_ MIHARA-_SAN_!" Sakura yelled out as she ran in her direction, her bag's wheels screeching on pavement.

* * *

_**Kageyama Gakuen: Sakura no Michi**_

_**10:40 AM**_

_Sakura no Michi_, or "The Path of Cherry Blossoms" in English… is the the most direct route between the school dorms and Kageyama Gakuen. The path itself is adorned with ageless granite, keeping a constant foundation even in the toughest of weather. The most defining feature however, was the two rows of Sakura trees adorning both sides of the pathway, hence the name, _Sakura no Michi_. The road was slightly elevated from the earth, and in doing so a side of the road had a remarkable view of the campus.

Since the student dorms were perched above a hill overlooking the campus, the road's path had two downward 15 degree incline that stacked on the other, the last half of the road going opposite the direction of the first half. Such a flat incline made the walk down to campus longer, but most of the students didn't mind. As the path leveled out, it headed straight toward the campuses west entrance. It took a while to traverse the path, unless you erm... decided to jump down from the top, which was too high to do anyway.

Looking around, Chiharu saw the same scenery and people she was used to. Despite not being crowded as it would be if it was the first day of class, there were still many students walking to and fro. She observed the Cherry Blossoms in full bloom, people jogging back and forth, good friends talking, couples snuggling on one of the many benches… and a frantic girl struggling to catch up with her.

Okay maybe that last thing was a bit abnormal.

"Well if it isn't Kinomoto-_san_. I could've sworn I just saw you a few seconds ago!" Chiharu teased.

"_Hai_…" Sakura replied, short of breath as she finally caught up to her. "I'm such a _baka_ when it comes to remembering important stuff like this…"

"Remembering? Oh, you must be staying at the dorms too! It's a good thing you bumped into me a while back then!"

"_Hai_, I don't even know where it is! I hope you don't mind if I tag along with you? Do you?" Sakura said bashfully. "I'm being such a klutz today!"

Chiharu gave out a small chuckle. "It's ok Kinomoto-_san_, nobody's perfect."

"Just call me Sakura!"

"Sakura... _san_" Chiharu repeated slowly and unsurely.

"No don't call me that!" Sakura chuckled. "It makes me sound like an old woman!"

"Then... Sakura-_chan_" she said it to herself silently a few times. "Yes that suits you well! But, I'll only call you that if you call me Chiharu!"

"Sure, Chiharu-_chan_!"

So the two newfound friends walked side by side striking up conversations as they were kept walking towards the dorms. Sakura found Chiharu to be a very pleasant person to talk to, and was very good-natured at heart. From their conversations, she found out she was from Aoyama, which was really close to the campus. That explained how she was a TA and knew the campus so well. Sakura also learned about Chiharu's boyfriend, who went by the name of Yamazaki Takashi; but surprisingly, all Chiharu said was how much of an idiot he was, which made Sakura laugh inwardly quite a bit. Still, for some reason she talked on and on about him, and it struck Sakura that Chiharu and her boyfriend were probably pretty close, despite the abusive comments she was giving him. Sakura couldn't wait to meet him!

Eventually they ended up talking about family. "… and then there's my _onni-chan_, Touya. Hmm… what can I say? He can act like a jerk sometimes… ok actually he acts like a jerk most of the time, calling me '_kaijuu_' day after day. It annoys me to no end, but he was always like twice the height I am! Someday I'm going to get taller than him and squash him under my foot, like this!" Sakura then proceeded to stomp her foot roughly on the granite road.

Chiharu let out a small laugh.

"Still, I know that deep down, _onni-chan _really does care for me. So I really don't mind that much. I suppose it's just tough love, I guess."

"It sounds like you come from a family that loves you very much." Chiharu replied, with a hint of envy in her voice.

Sakura not noticing, immediately asked: "So… how's your family Chiharu-_chan_?"

"…"

"Chiharu_... chan_?"

Hearing no immediate response, Sakura took a glance and was surprised to see her usual cheerful face a bit depressed. "_Maybe… I shouldn't push the subject." _Sakura thought to herself. As bright and cheerful and friendly as anyone could be, almost everyone had something they didn't want to talk about... herself especially!

"Sakura-_chan_?" I heard Chiharu ask quieter than usual.

"Hm?"

"So why did you decide to try for Kageyama out of all of the others?" Chiharu said, immediately changing the subject.

Sakura's face lit up with a renewed expression. "That's simple. I want to get into a good college, succeed in life, and…" abruptly, she stopped herself from saying more, and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"And… what?" Chiharu echoed back. She didn't get a reply. "Sakura_-chan_?"

"Nothing!" Sakura said with a sheepish smile, waving her hands in front of her.

"Oh c'mon! Now I know you're hiding something!" Chiharu plodded on, immediately curious. "You can tell me Sakura!" Sakura had her eyes downcast now, very embarrassed at Chiharu's constant inquiries. She tried her best to pass it off as nothing, but she was a really, really bad liar.

"It's nothing important! Really!"

"If it really is nothing important, then why are you trying so hard to hide it!" Chiharu retored back with a smirk.

Sakura winced... she got her there. While Chiharu was practically hopping up and down trying to get this piece of information out of her, surprisingly, Sakura was really considering just telling her. It was one of her deepest secrets, second to only her being a magician. "_Wow… I've only ever told my four best friends: Eriol, Tomoyo, Rika, and Naoko… I haven't even told otou-san or onni-chan about it. Now I'm about to tell this to someone I just met!"_

It wasn't a dark or scandelous reason for trying to get into Kageyama, but it was something _very _personal and pretty embarassing to talk about. Still, Chiharu didn't seem like a person that would make fun of her or break her trust. "... promise you won't tell anyone who doesn't know this Chiharu-_chan_!" Sakura said to Chiharu as Sakura motioned for them to sit on a nearby bench.

"_Hai!_ I swear not to!"

"Alright, here goes." I said, taking a deep breath. "You see my memory is kind of blurry at that point in time but I'll tell you what I remember… about 9 years ago my family and I were planning to go to China to visit an old friend of my mother's. When we were packing up to go, my mom told me about her friend's son, and how he was a very handsome, intelligent, and strong boy, and asked me to be friends and play with him. It was like he was some kind of _oji-sama_! So, naturally, I started asking questions to myself like "What would he think of me?" After a while, I got really nervous over the whole thing."

Chiharu listened on, a faint smile tugging up her lips.

"So, when we arrived in China, I was really intimidated when I first saw him, I remember that quite well." Sakura giggled. "I remember when we first entered their huge mansion, I was hiding behind my mom, dad, and brother. When I finally met their son, however, he turned out to be really nice and asked me if I wanted to play with him! So we started playing together outside everyday in his huge estate."

"He must've been really cute back then?"

"Yeah, he definitely was… He really was like an _oji-sama._" Sakura replied dreamily. Chiharu saw that one coming. "Anyways, my memory is really fuzzy after that, but... we made a promise to see each other again, by getting into this school together!"

"Wow, that's one big promise! I mean this is a hard enough school to get in to... think of how hard it would be for a foreigner!" Chiharu exclaimed.

"Yes it is! I know it's just a silly childhood promise, but I still remembered it and kept it in my heart all this time..." Sakura then stood up, twirled around once, and looked down at her new friend. "And look where I am now! Who would've known I'd be in this uniform!"

"But still, are you sure the boy you met went through with that promise too. I mean, you two were really young after all. What if he totally forgot about it?"

To Chiharu's surprise, Sakura's expression didn't falter at all. "It's ok then, I mean... I'm much more thankful for all I've accomplished because of him. Thanks to it, I became a smarter, stronger, and a better person..."

"But..." Chiharu butted in, "... I bet you would really like to meet him again!"

Sakura's eyes softened. "_Hai_... even if it's not in this school, I would be so very happy to see him again. I hope he still remembers me..."

"Sooo…?" Chiharu said assumingly.

"Hoe?"

"Sooo… details, details! What did he look like? What was his name?"

"_Ano…_" Sakura once again let out that nervous smile of hers. "You see that's the problem, I totally forgot!"

Silence.

"Are you serious?"

"Hoe? Umm… yes…"

More silence.

"Hahaha HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

* * *

"Oh c'mon Chiharu, was it really that funny?" 

Chiharu couldn't stop laughing as they continued their journey to the dormitories.

"I'm really sorry… Sakura." Chiharu finally said, wiping a tear from her eye. "It's just that you were inspired so, so much by that boy, and you don't even remember his name! That's just too kawaii!"

"_She sure has a weird sense of humor." _Sakura thought briefly.

"It was 9 years ago!" Sakura retorted. "I was only 5 back then, you know…" she continued while twiddling her thumbs.

"Well like you said, you really do forget the most important stuff don't you?"

"_H-hai_."

Chiharu couldn't help but flash a huge smile. "Still, that's sooo romantic Sakura-_chan_! Chasing your childhood love this far. I'm so happy for you!"

_'Childhood love?'_

Sakura turned a few shades of red. "Don't... don't misunderstand! He's just a really important friend back then, that's all... _Mou... _saying something like 'childhood lo-lo-lo..."

Chiharu looked at Sakura, she really wasn't a good liar. "Now now, don't deny it Sakura-chan. I know you must've been attracted to him back then, even just a little... ?"

"W-Well, maybe a little bit..."

"A little bit?"

"Oh! How can I help it? He was like a prince, and he treated me like a princess! How can I not fall in--" Sakura immediately clamped her mouth closed for the 3rd time today.

"Oooh, an unrequited first love! That's just so..."

"A-ANYWAY!" Sakura interrupted her in a very loud tone. "We really have to get going! We spent a lot of time talking you think?" she said, frantically trying to change the subject.

Seeing that she obviously teased to a point of discomfort (not that she would mind pushing it a bit further later), Chiharu looked at her cell phone, and was a little taken aback. "Oh! You're right we only have about 9 minutes left, we better hurry!" she said as she quickened her pace to a jog.

Relieved, Sakura broke into a jog with her, running a little ahead. Watching her retreating back, Chiharu thought about the story that Sakura just shared, about her and a chinese prince. Although Sakura looked very embarrassed on the topic in the surface, she noticed something light up in her eyes as she talked about her long-lost friend. She was very happy yes, but her eyes looked sad at the same time. Chiharu wondered why... was it because she had forgotten about him? It seemed like the right reason, but then she wondered about the topic of the question itself. For one, it was very odd that someone would remember so much detail but not even remember the boy's name or what he looks like! _'Yeah, I had a good laugh, but still, something was just wrong with that!'_

In spite of that, Chiharu can tell that Sakura wasn't lying. Oh yes, if there was one thing she was good at, it was telling who was telling the truth or not. The way her eyes were, the way she spoke, her expression... that wasn't some made-up childhood fantasy. If only she remembered anything about that boy... then she would've done anything in her power to help her newfound friend find him! But for now, all she could do was pray.

_''Sakura, I hope from the bottom of my heart that you two will reunite someday.'_

_

* * *

_  
**_Kageyama Gakuen Ryou (dormitory)_**

_**10:58 AM**_

"Here we are Sakura!" Chiharu said as they came upon the massive housing complex. "Those students that are planning to live in the dormitories are given a choice between the East Wing and the West Wing." Chiharu pointed out.

Sakura marveled as she stared at awe at the two buildings. Both the east wing, and the west wing were shaped into two upside down L-shaped structures from her point of view. Although they were both separated distinctly, but were joined together at their westernmost sides, at the stems of the "L". In the space between the two wings lay the plaza, with a majestic fountain in the middle, surrounded by many trees, pathways, benches, and tables. At the end of the plaza and the dorms on the easternmost side lay the entrance of the road she was standing on now, _Sakura no michi,_ which lead to the campus. On and off the various pathways, many students were lying down or sitting on the grass under their favorite trees; either napping, studying, or having a picnic lunch with their friends.

"I heard the West Wing gets a little stuffy during the afternoon… so I hope you and your roommates chose the East Wing." Chiharu whispered.

"Hoe…" Sakura replied, not really paying attention.

As Chiharu walked towards the East Wing entrance, she noticed Sakura still behind him, looking around in wonder. "Coming Sakura?"

"I'll be there in a little bit…" she muttered back.

"Soaking up the sun and the scenery aren't you? Can't say I blame you, I mean I did the same thing." Chiharu smiled back. "Well take your time!" she waved as she entered the building.

* * *

_**East Wing Lobby**_

_**11:00 AM**_

_"I'm just on time." _Pulling her cell phone out once again and checking the time which read 11:00 AM, Chiharu sighed it relief. _"Whew, it usually doesn't take a whole 20 minutes to get here from the station but... it was worth it." _she smiled to herself, looking through the glass sliding doors to see an elated Sakura still looking around in wonder. _"I hope Yamazaki isn't mad..."_

Chiharu looked around the massive, but crowded lobby filled with new and old students with their luggage at their sides, chatting adamantly with their friends. Trying to catch that black spiky hair that she would be sure to recognize, her eyes found her target. He was standing somewhat close to the receptionist desk and seemed to be engaged in quite a conversation with two girls. One of the girls had shoulder-length, curled brown hair and the other girl had glasses with darker, shorter, and straighter hair.

"… so that's why ghosts usually choose to haunt old Victorian houses. Interesting huh?"

"Wow…" the longer haired girl said in fascination.

"I never knew that Yamazaki-_kun_! You're really smart!" the other girl said in praise.

"Ah…" Yamazaki said, grinning from ear to ear. "… thank you ladies, you praise me too much-- AUUGH!" Yamazaki yelled in surprise, suddenly discovering two hands choking him from behind.

"How many times do I have to tell you? Quit making up stories!"

The two girls, who not surprisingly were bewildered at what just happened, was staring at the two shockingly. However when they saw Yamazaki still smiling through the torture, a big sweatdrop formed on the back of their heads. "Ah! Sasaki-_san_, Yanagisawa-_san_, this is my girlfriend I was talking about earlier: Mihara Chiharu!" Yamazaki somehow was able to say.

Immediately letting go of her strangle hold, Chiharu smiled up at Rika and Naoko as Yamazaki fell down with a big THUD! "Oh how rude of me! Yes, my name is Mihara Chiharu. You can just call me Chiharu. I'm an incoming freshman and I'll be staying here in the East Wing..." Chiharu then looked down, and lightly kicked Yamazaki if only to make sure he was alive. "And as you probably know, this _baka_ is my boyfriend, Takashi Yamazaki."

"Umm… Mihara-_san_, will he be ok?" Rika said as she looked at the battered Yamazaki sprawled on the floor. "It looks like you gave him a concussion..."

Kneeling down, Chiharu stared intently at her seemingly unconscious boyfriend's face. She placed a hand on his forehead. "Yamazaki-_kun_…" she said. Suddenly she bonked him hard on the head.

"STOP ACTING LIKE A DRAMA QUEEN AND GET UP!"

"_Hai, hai _Chiharu." Yamazaki said as he quickly popped up appearing to be in perfect health. "I know you'd see through it, but you've got to admit," he looked up at Rika and Naoko. "I put on an award-winning performance!"

Rika and Naoko gave a nervous smile and clapped their hands lightly.

"Yeah that was great Yamazaki-_kun_…" Rika complimented, a little reluctantly.

"Hehehe…" Yamazaki laughed, showing that wide grin of his.

"You really are a sucker for attention Yamazaki-_kun_." Chiharu said lowly.

"You betcha!" came Yamazaki's reply.

"Oh, we haven't properly introduced ourselves Mihara-_san_. I'm Sasaki Rika." she replied bowing.

"And I'm Yanagaisawa Naoko, writer extraordinaire!" Naoko winked.

"Oh yes, did you know that in ancient Persia, writers of fiction that had anything to do with romance were immediately imprisoned and thrown into the lion pit? That's because King Cyrus IV had his eyes on a princess that visited her castle one day, a very popular romance author at the time, and really wanted to be with her. But then, when King Cyrus proposed to her, she declined, saying 'Oooh sorry, I'd love to be your queen, but I need to go on a journey to clear this writer's block!', so then the king was so upset that he..." Yamazaki wasn't even fazed by the fact that Chiharu already had him in a choke hold for about 10 seconds already.

"Lies! Lies! All lies!" Chiharu exclaimed as more than one vein popped on her forehead.

Rika and Naoko just looked at each other nervously. It would probably be something they'd have to get used to. "Oh by the way, Chiharu…", Naoko started, "Have you seen our friend around here? She's about this tall… Auburn hair… Emerald Eyes… her name's Kinomoto Sakura. She's our 3rd roommate and she's running kind of late... not like I'm surprised or anything." she finished, remembering all those times in elementary school where she always got to class 'just on time'.

Chiharu giggled. "Actually your friend is…"

* * *

Sakura trotted over to the fountain, still marveling the very beautiful courtyard. "_I could get used to this. Waking up, seeing this scenery every morning… how great is that? If this is how it's going to be like for 3 years..."_

She sat down and took amount to breathe in the fresh air. It seemed so peaceful, so serene… she could probably doze of here for the whole afternoon.

"_I wonder what Naoko and Rika thought when they first saw this…?"_ she thought to herself. She suddenly remembered something? "_Rika! Naoko! Oh no, how long have I been sitting here! Hoeee! 5 minutes? I better go!"_ She hurriedly stood up and ran towards the East Wing's entrance.

* * *

"So, that rules out using the lasin board too…" Syaoran said, completing his silent incantation, observing the lasin board not reacting to anything at all. For the past week they went to many places around Tokyo, trying in vain to search for any of their two targets, being either the card mistress or 'the evil presence' as he coined it. From his mother's information, Syaoran was pretty sure both of their objectives was somewhere in all the areas they searched, since if 'the evil presence's' target was the card mistress, it would be sure to not be far from her. Syaoran concluded that their methods of searching was at fault. 

Today, he even tried to use his most powerful search tool, his lasin board. He was really reluctant to use it, as it gave off a big surge of magical energy that is easily traceable. Syaoran could suppress the energy, but he wasn't sure he could conceal all of it. With much complaining from Mei Ling how there were no leads at all, he decided to give it a try. He flared his aura and surrounded the lasin board with all the magical strength he could muster before activating it, and he was successful in doing so.

Still, the lasin board itself didn't react to anything besides his own energy, so all that effort was futile.

"Oh man… and no leads so far either! This is going to take forever I know it!" Mei Ling said.

"Well what did you expect? If the Li Clan and my Mother couldn't locate her, it's not going be no easy task for us."

"That's a good point…" Mei Ling pondered.

Syaoran couldn't help but look back at her oddly. "What? You thought that we would just conveniently bump into her out of nowhere?"

"… Sort of. I mean it could happen right?" Mei Ling asked sheepishly.

The two rounded the end of the hallway, and viewed the massive, let luxurious, East Wing lobby. "Well, let's head back to our dorm room for now..." Syaoran said to Mei Ling behind him as he approached the sliding door to the exit. Because he had his back to the exit however, he did not notice the door already sliding open to a frantic, emerald-eyed girl rushing in..

"_There they are!"_ Sakura thought as she spotted her friends. "Sorry I'm….!"

"Now what are the chances that will…" Syaoran started to say as he slowly turned his head back forward.

**CRASH!**

Feeling a body collide into his, Syaoran shifted his body weight accordingly to stand up. Thanks to his years of training, he did so easily. Quickly seeing the girl he bumped into starting to lose her balance, he immediately grabbed the her wrist to prevent her from falling.

"_Gomen nasai!"_ Sakura hurriedly said as the unfortunate victim she crashed into held her up. "I'm such a klutz, thank you for catching…"

She stopped mid-sentence as she caught his gaze. Her heart stopped.

**To be continued**

**

* * *

**_**  
Preview for the next chapter:**_

**Tomoyo: **How could you end it there! Oh you're so cruel! Leaving it a cliffhanger like that!

**Me: **Heh heh… hey wait a minute! Didn't I ship you off to England last chapter?

**Tomoyo: **Yeah but you can't get rid of me that easily! Thanks to the internet, I still have a chance to read about my _kawaii_ Sakura-_chan_!

**Me: **Umm… yeah… (slowly walks away) Hey, isn't somebody supposed to do the preview?

**Rika: **I'll do it. (Ahem) It seems like hero and heroine finally meet! It's the moment all you readers were waiting for! But how will they react? Ahhh! So many possibilities!

**Chiharu:** (thinking) _Maybe… it could be the boy Sakura was talking about earlier?_

**Touya:** _Oi!_ If that _gaki_ ever lays a hand on my sister…!

**Me: **Arg! How did you get here?

**Rika: **Next time on A Feeling So Strong: Chapter 4: A Strange Feeling?. See you then!

* * *

**_Translations:_**

_Iie:_ 'No', or a humble response to someone thanking you, like "It was nothing".

_Sugoi:_ 'Incredible!', 'Fantastic!'

_Chotto matte: _ 'Please wait!'

_Arigatou:_ 'Thank you'

_Oji-sama: _ Prince

_Gomen nasai:_ 'I'm sorry!'

_gaki:_ The closest translation would be 'brat'. Touya calls Syaoran this many times in CCS, and that little quote by Touya in my preview is in homage of that. :)


	4. A Strange Feeling?

A/N: Thank you Ichiko, Dark Azure Blossom, LadyAkina, DualBlade, Armageddon Angel, and everyone else that reviewed. I'm honored you all think this much of my story that you would share your opinions with me. It really, really helps motivate me a lot to become a better writer and to continue with the story.

I have to say I really had fun tinkering around with the subject matter of this chapter. I hope you all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! I know it's a little errrm, short. But it's all part of my grand design.

**Summary from last chapter: **After having a strange dream, Syaoran and Mei Ling finally make it to Japan. They immediately began their search for the card mistress, much to Mei Ling's dismay. Meanwhile, Sakura took her first steps on the Kageyama High School campus and met one of her future classmates, Mihara Chiharu. They became fast friends and Sakura even shared her deepest secret with her! At the same time, Syaoran and Mei Ling, remaining vigilant of their search, happened to be investigating the same dorm that Sakura will live in...

* * *

**Chapter 4: A Strange Feeling**

* * *

**_Kageyama Gakuen_**

**_East Wing Dormitory Lobby_**

**_11:05 AM_**

Chiharu giggled. "Actually your friend is…"

She turned her head and was about to point outside when her eyes just happened to pass a male and a female just standing there, the boy with a hand on the girl's wrists. She was about to pass it off as some random event, but then she caught the girl's hair... a bright auburn color. Then, she eyed the girl completely, and she noticed that she was none other than Sakura.

"… over there?" Chiharu finished slowly. Rika, Naoko, and Yamazaki followed Chiharu's gaze and found Sakura and a boy seemingly looking into each other's eyes, not moving an inch. Immediately curious they tip-toed silently closer, making sure they went unnoticed by the two.

"That's your friend?" Yamazaki inquired.

"Yeah that's their roommate, Sakura." Chiharu replied back in a low voice.

"Hey... What are they doing?" Naoko whispered to Rika.

"I don't know… but it seems so…" Rika whispered back.

"Shh… keep it down! I want to see what happens next!" Yamazaki said in a loud whisper.

Mei Ling as well, noticed something somewhat odd was going on. Looking to the Syaoran and to the auburn haired girl, the girl didn't seem to be responding to anything that Syaoran was trying to say. She was thinking about saying something but decided to shut her mouth.

I mean, it just looked so very interesting that she decided it would better to let things play out. It would be interesting to see how her cousin would handle this.

------------------

As soon as her emerald orbs were locked with his amber ones, she suddenly felt a jolt of electricity surge through her body and mind. Unwillingly, she started to lose awareness of everything around her: the other people in the room, her friends, even the ground she was standing on. She didn't understand why, but she just couldn't get her eyes off of him. She didn't know what was wrong with her, but she stood frozen on the spot, her eyes sort of glued to his in a sort of hypnotic trance.

_He's someone I never seen before._

_He's someone that I just crashed into by pure coincidence._

_But..._

_Why? Why is he making me feel this way? His eyes, his touch... it's making my legs turn to goo. What's wrong with me?_

_His mouth is moving a little bit, but it didn't register as any sound in my ears. Is he trying to say something? _

_He's still staring at me... his eyes are so alluring... I can't take my eyes off of them..._

_His touch is so electrifying... I've never felt this way in my entire life._

_This person is so... so..._

"Umm... excuse me..." Syaoran said for the third time.

"Ah...!" Sakura exclaimed, suddenly hearing a person's voice in front of her. Shocked by the sudden noise, she was violently snapped out of the sudden trance that enveloped her a few moments back. Her absent consciousness finally checked back in, and she was finally brought back to the real world.

She looked at him, then at the arm that was holding her up. Eyes widening in realization, Sakura quickly pulled back, unwillingly jerking the boy's hands away from her.

"Ah.. um... I..." Sakura stuttered out, her face redder than a tomato. _'I was just staring at a boy for like a full 30 seconds! Oh my god! This is so embarrassing!'_

"Uhh..." Syaoran started to say a little nervously. He was really trying to make heads and tails of the whole situation. He didn't know whether to complain why she was looking at him for so long, or question her to why. On top of that, he didn't really have any experience conversing with girls... Syaoran just decided to say whatever came to his mind. "... so, are you okay now?"

'_Am I okay? Oh...!' _Suddenly remembering what happened, Sakura started to frantically bow every two seconds. "_Ano_... I'm sorry for running into you! I was in a hurry so please forgive me!"

Syaoran looked at her bewilderingly. "It's okay... You don't... have to bow..." he responded quietly.

Sakura looked up at Syaoran once again, her eyes staring at his once again. This time, it was Syaoran's turn to turn a little red. He _really _wasn't used to talking to girls, much less girls that stare at you seemingly without reason for long periods of time.

"_Ano_... is there something on my face?"

Upon noticing that he was staring at her _again_, Sakura's face flushed even more, and she immediately looked down.

"Umm... it's nothing really it's just that... uhh...hoe..." She really was at a loss of words at that moment. What was she supposed to say? She didn't even know the reason herself!

"Hey listen..." Syaoran started to say. He was really uncomfortable with this whole situation. More than anything he wanted to just run away from it!

"... I gotta go, _ja_!" he said quickly and ran out the door as fast as his legs could take him.

"W-wait!" Sakura shouted as his retreating back, but was too late.

"... you never told me your name." she finished quietly.

------------

**-Syaoran-**

Running away from the girl as fast as he could, I stopped at the fountain at the center of the park and looked back. Satisfied by seeing no one following me, I turned back around when...

"Still as shy as ever, I see."

"Ahh!" I almost fell into the fountain. "M-- Mei Ling, when did you get here?"

"Magic"

"But you can't use ma--" I stopped myself, remembering that Mei Ling could move around like a ninja much like me. "... never mind. Let's just get back."

"Wow, this is the first time I caught you with your guard down. You must be quite... distracted." she said with a smirk.

"No I'm not..." I lied, not really trying to hide the fact. "... okay I was. I mean, that girl is just so _weird!"_

"Heeeeh... weird you say?" she questioned and stroked her chin in thought. "If you ask me, I thought she was quite taken by you."

"Taken?" I questioned.

"Taken! Like... she was very interested in you!"

"That, I know." I responded. "She was studying me like I was some kind of celebrity or something. I don't even know why she did that. It was so weird..." suddenly Mei Ling punched me in the back of the head.

"What the hell was that for?" I retorted angrily back.

"_AHO! _You really are dense!" she responded back, and then pointed at me. "You're going to make a lot of girls cry if you keep this up!"

"What do you mean!" I shouted back. That punch seriously put a bump on my head.

Mei Ling opened her mouth in shock. "You can't be serious... I can't believe you still don't get it!" Mei Ling went closer to me and put her mouth in my ear.

"_Listen..."_ she said whispering. _"What I'm trying to say is, about you, I think that girl..."_

A few seconds later, my eyes opened in shock.

"WHAT?"

-------------

**-Sakura-**

"… Sakura?"

"Sakura-_chan_?"

"Sakura, yoo-hoo anybody home?" I suddenly noticed a hand waving in front of my eyes.

"Hoe! Rika, Naoko, Chiharu-_chan_!"

"And don't forget me!" a boy that I didn't recognize said.

"Oh yeah Sakura-_chan_ before I forget, this is Takashi Yamazaki, my boyfriend and my roommate that I mentioned earlier." Chiharu said.

"Mornin'!" came his cheerful reply.

"_Ano_… how long have you guys been here?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Ever since you bumped into that strikingly handsome young man!" Rika said with stars in her eyes. "Oh my, that was the cutest thing I've ever seen Sakura do with my own two eyes!"

I started blushing like mad. "H-Hoe?"

"Yeah, the way you were gazing at him longingly like he was some long lost love… and then the way you were giving that wistful look when he left…." Rika went on. In the mean time, I just got redder and redder as Rika went on describing the past few events in her point of view… because I realized that it was all true.

"My my, judging from your reaction, is it safe to assume that you're quite taken with him?" Yamazaki asked me eloquently.

"Hoe? N-no way! It's just that… well…"

"C'mon Sakura! It's sooo obvious that you like the guy, why don't you just admit it?" Chiharu said teasingly.

"_Mou! _It's not that!" I continued to deny. "It's just that..."As I thought back to that mysterious amber-eyed young man, I could feel my heart beating faster. "It's just that he's unlike anybody I met before..."

I couldn't explain it, but the way he made me feel when I first saw him, the way he's making me feel now, was very special in some way. It was like I was floating on air! But how could it be? I didn't even know him!

"Hmm... it's too bad we couldn't catch his name." Chiharu thought aloud. "I wonder if he's a student here..."

"I hope so! Then Naoko and I can play matchmaker for Sakura! I always wanted to do that!" Rika exclaimed happily.

"Hmm... yes... that would be quite fun." Naoko answered in a tone I wasn't at all comfortable with.

"Hoe..."

* * *

**_East Wing Dormitory, Room 205_**

**_11:15 AM_**

Ten minutes and an endless bombardment of questions on Sakura's feelings for a certain boy later, the five friends parted ways to get settled into their new rooms. Sakura found her room on the 2nd floor, 3rd door to the left from the stairs.

Walking in the door, Sakura saw the living room that was about the size of her own back in Tomoeda. In the corner was a small kitchen with a refrigerator. To the left there was a door leading to the bedrooms, which contained three already made beds. In addition there was a bathroom with a tub/shower with exits leading to both the living room and the bedroom. To the back, the window displayed a marvelous view of the plaza below.

It was definitely not like one of those little boxes that some students call a dorm room. Nope, Kageyama Gakuen was definitely loaded.

"Hoe… this room is huge!"

"Nice place, isn't it Sakura?" said a smiling Rika.

"It's almost like an apartment, huh?" Naoko added.

Sakura noticed that Rika and Naoko have already unpacked most of their clothes, and everything else was still sprawled around the living room carpet. Her own belongings were still packed in a corner of the room.

"Well it's time to finish unpacking! This could take a while…" Sakura said.

"Yes, but don't strain yourself too much. I scheduled for the three of us for a tour of the campus in about 1 hour. So just take it easy until then! Here!" Rika grabbed a small plate from a nearby table. "I even made a sandwich for you Sakura!"

"_Arigatou!_ It looks delicious! Tomorrow I'll make you one too!

"It's okay." Rika smiled back.

"Ahh… it's so nice to have two people that are good cooks living here. Because, I couldn't cook anything if my life depended on it!" Naoko said.

"Yeah, remember back in 4th grade, when you tried to bake cookies for everyone on your birthday?" Rika said, thinking back to that day.

"Oh! You mean that time Naoko used salt instead of sugar for the cookie dough? And used coffee beans instead of chocolate chips?" Sakura added in, remembering.

"Ehehe, sorry for that again… that tasted horrible didn't it?" Naoko said with a sweatdrop.

Sakura and Rika laughed as they remembered how the whole class and even Mizuki-sensei rushed over to the garbage can to spit out the contents. "Well… let's just be glad that we know how to cook, otherwise, it'd be hard for you to survive wouldn't it?" Rika said, patting her friend on the shoulder.

"You know it!" smiled Naoko. All of a sudden two growling noises came out of nowhere.

"Oops! It looks like we were so pre-occupied with unpacking and waiting for you, that we didn't even have a chance to eat." Rika said patting her stomach area.

"I'm starving… I haven't had anything to eat since yesterday…" said a miserable Naoko.

"And all the food that we had was that sandwich…" Rika said sadly.

"Hoe! Why didn't you guys tell me?" Sakura exclaimed. She was about to cut her sandwich into three pieces...when a sudden idea popped into her head. "Why don't you two go eat out and I'll take care of the rest of the unpacking?"

Rika and Naoko stared at her confusingly. Looking at all the unpacked stuff, it was an enormous amount for any one person to do. "Sa-Sakura, are you sure it's such a good idea? I mean, it took the both of us with Yamazaki-_kun_ just to move the TV up here!" Naoko said. "And it's not even set on a table yet!"

"Don't worry I'll be fine!" Sakura said with a reassuring smile.

Feeling a growling noise in her tummy once again, Rika sweatdropped. "Umm… well… okay... take it easy Sakura. Don't try to do something you can't handle."

"Okay!"

Making sure Rika and Naoko were well out of sight downstairs, Sakura hurried back to her dorm room and locked the door.

'_Poor Rika and Naoko, they had to unpack all this stuff because I was late getting here! Well, it's time to make it up to them!'_

Performing a chant she learned from Eriol, Sakura placed a magic seal around the room '_Alright, with that seal, no one can sense my magic outside this room. Ok, Here goes!' _

Sakura brought out a small star-shaped necklace from under her shirt. Nostalgically, she fingered the pendant, remembering the wild adventures she had in her younger days. Things were so crazy back then... the discovery of the Book of Clow, Keroberos, Yue, her crazy adventures with Tomoyo's dresses, the Final Judgment... she went through all that thanks to this pendant. And that wasn't the end of it, due to Eriol's constant persistence; she was able to make their clow cards her own. Once the Key of Clow, it was now her very own key.

_'Heh... it's been a while.' _Sakura thought to herself as the pendant was surrounded by her magical aura, and started to glow and float above her hands.

-----

**_Hoshi no chikara o himeshi 'kagi' yo! Shin no sugata o ware no mae ni shimese. Keiyaku no moto Sakura ga meijiru…_ _RERIISU!_**

-----

As Sakura finished the chant, the pendant glowed white and changed its shape to a long object about the height of her body. Grabbing it with both hands, one of the ends of the object grew bigger and formed an emblem.

As the magical energy died down, the object's glow receded to reveal her majestic Star Wand.

She looked at a couple boxes next to an empty bookshelf. Inside were various horror and romance novels, obviously belonging to Naoko and Rika, respectively.

_"MOVE!"_ Sakura shouted as she released the power of one of her Sakura cards. A pair of small wings appears in front of her.

"Move, please arrange the books on the bookshelf in alphabetical order." Move couldn't move large objects or living things, but it was more than capable to move a whole bunch of books around.

'_Alright, that will take care of that…' _she thought happily looking around once more.

She caught sight of the huge TV screen that her roommates moved up here. Normally it would be impossible for her to do it herself.

_"POWER!"_ releasing its power onto her body, Sakura instantly grew many times stronger, and she easily lifted the TV up with only one hand, while still having her wand in her other hand.

"_Now this is moving in, Card Captor style!"_

* * *

**_West Wing Dormitory, Room 317_**

**_11:15 AM_**

_I think that girl likes you... I think that girl likes you... I think that girl likes you... I think that girl likes you... I think..._

"Ahh!" Syaoran screamed aloud to no one in particular. Try as he might, he couldn't get Mei Ling's voice and a certain auburn-haired young lady out of his head.

"Geez Syaoran, keep it down would you? You'll annoy the neighbors." Mei Ling said to me as she walked out from her bedroom. She found him lying down on the couch, facing the other way.  
"You know, a lot of guys would be thrilled to know a girl likes them, and she was a pretty one."

"But, it's not like I like her back or anything... how am I going to deal with it?" Syaoran replied back.

"Listen... point one, in case you didn't notice I said '_I think_'... point two, she might've just recognized your face somehow. Maybe you met her before...?" Mei Ling trailed off.

Syaoran thought for a moment. "... don't think so."

"In ANY case, how you handled it back there was very unbecoming. I can understand if a girl did what you did, but you! Mr. Future Leader of the Li Clan, running away from a simple girl of all things!"

"Hey back off! I'm trying, okay? But that girl just didn't act normal!" Syaoran retorted.

_'Well this is different, if I ever chewed him out like this back in _ _China__, he'd probably have my head. Looks like my dear cousin is actually taking his mother's advice.'_ Mei Ling thought with a smile.

"Ok I'll agree with that, but still, she was obviously interested in you in some way, and it would be just rude to run away without saying anything... Okay listen up then!" Mei Ling said attempting to get Syaoran's attention. "I'll teach you how you could be friends with her!" At that statement, he immediately turned around and looked at her with curiosity.

"... go on"

* * *

**_East Wing Dormitory, Room 205_**

**_11:45 AM_**

"Oh boy I'm stuffed! That beef bowl place was really good!"

"This area has a lot of good restaurants, that's for sure!"

"Well here we are... room 205. I wonder how much Sakura was able to do…"

As soon as they opened the door, both of their jaws hit the floor.

The room looked perfectly organized, furnished, and ordered. All the boxes were neatly stacked in a closet too. Furthermore, the TV, the DVD player, and the audio system were all hooked up properly and placed on its shelf. The computer was all up and running in the computer desk as well. The books were all organized alphabetically, the couches and tables were rearranged, and there wasn't a speck of dust ANYWHERE in the room.

"Oh welcome back Naoko, Rika! How was lunch?"

"……"

"……"

"Umm… Naoko, Rika?"

"Sakura…" Naoko was still in shock. "Did... did you do all of this alone?"

"Of course I did… Hoe! Is something wrong? I placed the TV over there because I thought it would be a good spot to see it from almost all over the living room! You think that's ok?" Sakura said, looking around in a panic.

"…. S-sure Sakura. No problem."

Sakura breathed out in relief. "That's good! It would err... be pretty hard to move again." she said a little nervously. "So are we ready to go on that tour you said earlier. I think it starts in 15 minutes!"

"Yeah… tour."

"Alright! Hold on, let me get changed real fast!" Sakura ran over to her bedroom and closed the door. Rika and Naoko just stared at the door for a while, still speechless.

"Rika… there's a logical explanation for this right?"

Naoko attempted to offer a theory. "Maybe... she's been working out? I mean, she was already a good runner..."

"Could be..."

* * *

**_Kageyama Gakuen Main Campus_**

**_Teacher's Lounge_**

**_1:00 PM_**

"We're sorry it seems that your scheduled tour guide is running a bit late. She just called in and asked that if you could wait patiently for her…"a female teacher with long, red hair said to the three girls.

"Sure that's no problem _sensei._" Rika said as the three of them took a seat. "So Sakura, are you excited?"

"Mmm…" Sakura nodded, feeling a lot more tired than she did an hour ago. "_I guess not using my powers in a while took its toll. I did use about 4 cards to unpack... for a whole half an hour too." _she thought to herself, eyes drooping a little._ 'No, I can't rest now! If I get tired after using 4 of my weakest cards... except Power anyway... I really am getting weak! And to think I once used Dark and Light at the same time without breaking a sweat... Well no matter, I will persevere and get stronger!' _she thought with renewed determination.

Rika and Naoko noticed Sakura pumping her fists in the air. Not really wanting to know, they sweatdropped and ignored her.

"I heard the Language Arts _sensei's_ are really skilled…" Naoko started. "That'd make it great for you and me to…"

She didn't have the time to finish the sentence, however, as a door to one of the entrances to the lounge slid open to reveal an agitated looking Chiharu dragging along Yamazaki on the ground.

"Ah! It's..."

"I'm sorry I'm late, but I had to help my _baka_ boyfriend find his ticket for his scheduled tour. And do you believe that he forgot that it was MY group that he was going with? How can he forget something like that?"

"I--Is that so…" the teacher said with a nervous sweatdrop.

Yamazaki suddenly stood up, apparently unphased from Chiharu's physical abuse. He then pointed his left index finger up.

"Speaking of tour guides, did you know that everyone who has ever been a tour guide could have their ancestry traced back to the French city of Tours? It was named that because everyone that has lived there has had this strange knack for being a tour guide. So they decided to rename their city to ' Tours' to better reflect their history!"

"Wow… really?" Rika replied.

"How very interesting!" Naoko said.

"I never knew that…" the teacher added in.

"Hoe… Chiharu-_chan_, you never told me that you were French!"

Following 5 pangs of anger appearing on her forehead, Chiharu gripped Yamazaki's neck in a death grip and strangled him. "I AM NOT FRENCH! THEY'RE LIES, LIES…. ALL LIES!"

"Hoe! Umm Chiharu-_chan_! Yamazaki-_kun_ is going to...!"

"It's alright Sakura, this seems to happen all the time." Naoko whispered to her.

Sakura looked back at the couple, and then noticing Yamazaki laughing "Ohohohohohoho!" while still holding a smile, despite seemingly being choked to death.

"Hoe..."

---------

**_2 minutes later..._**

"Well I'll leave it to you then, Mihara-_san_." the teacher said as she left the room.

"So YOU'RE our tour guide?" Rika said disbelievingly. I mean wasn't she a new student, at the same boat like they were?

"You better believe it! Sakura already knows this, but I've been a TA here for since junior high. So I really know my way around!" Chiharu said proudly.

"And since I'm always here to walk her home, I know quite a bit as well. Although technically, I'm supposed to be receiving a tour." Yamazaki added.

"It'll be a lot more fun with you showing us around!" Naoko exclaimed.

"Yes it will be. Now are we ready to go?" Rika asked.

"Actually there are two more people that are supposed to come with us…" Chiharu looked at one of the digital clocks at a teacher's desk. "They're like, 10 minutes late… I wonder where they could…"

Before Chiharu could finish her sentence, the door slid open once again, an amber-eyed boy and a ruby-eyed girl ran in.

"Look how late we are!" Syaoran scoffed, looking at the clock. "We're like, 10 minutes late because you had to go 'fix your hair'!"

"Hey, the way my hair looks is very important to me!"

"I still don't see why it matters so much…"

"Nice line coming from someone who hasn't touched a comb in years!" Mei Ling replied, looking at Syaoran's unruly hair.

"We're here for the tour, sorry for being late!" Syaoran bowed.

"That's alright." Chiharu said, turning around. "I'm Mihara Chiharu and I'm going to be your..." she suddenly stopped as he looked at the boy's face. His eyes, his hair, his clothes, they looked just like...

"Ah!" Chiharu exclaimed.

"Ahhh!" Mei Ling shouted in recognition

"Oooh!" Rika did the same.

"Hoe!"

Immediately recognizing Sakura's trademark response, he looked behind Chiharu. Sure enough, he saw _her _face yet again.

Sakura, already surprised by his sudden appearance was looking down at the floor, red as a cherry. "_Ko… Ko… Konnichiwa_."

"...hello again" Syaoran stammered back.

Silence. Rika were looking at the two longingly, while Chiharu and Naoko were thinking to themselves, grinning mischievously. Yamazaki was just hanging back smiling. And Mei Ling could only sweatdrop at the scene. She looked again at Syaoran, who for some reason or other, was probably waiting for the girl to say something, and she could tell she was doing the same thing waiting for Syaoran. Seeing as they might be stuck here for the rest of the day unless she took some action...

"We haven't introduced ourselves yet." she spoke up loudly, dragging Syaoran back to her side. "My name is Li Mei Ling. I'm a foreign student studying in Japan." she said, telling half of the truth. She then nudged Syaoran on the side.

"Oh! Uhh... my name is Li Syaoran, also studying in Japan." he started, bowing politely. "Mei Ling and I are second cousins."

_'Li Syaoran... so that's your name...' _Sakura thought.

"Pleased to meet you both!" Chiharu answered cheerfully. "As you know already, I'm Mihara Chiharu... and this is my boyfriend, Takashi Yamazaki." Yamazaki waved a hello. "... and this is Sakaki Rika and Yanasigawa Naoko" The two bowed their heads slightly. "... and finally this is... _ara?_"

She had a hand were Sakura was standing at 10 seconds ago, only to find the place empty. She looked to the right and found her... hiding behind her two roommates.

"Heh heh, well this is awkward." Yamazaki said scratching the back of his head.

**To be continued**

**

* * *

**

**_Preview for the next chapter_**

**Rika: **The way those two are acting is so _kawaii_!

**Naoko:** (sweatdrop) Rika... I think you've been hanging around Tomoyo too long.

**Rika: **Still, I can't help but think that!

**Tomoyo: **Sa-ku-ra-_chan_! If only I was there, I'd tape it and call it: "Sakura's First High School Crush!"

**Sakura: ** _Mou!_ How many times do I have to tell you, it's not a crush!

**Tomoyo: **(starry eyed) You are so cute when you're in denial! Kyaaaaah!

**Naoko: **Next time on A Feeling So Strong, "Breaking the barrier", see you then!

**Rika: **When the walls to your heart are battered down, your true self is revealed _ne_?

**Sakura:** Hoe...

* * *

**_Translations:_**

_Ja:_ 'See you later!'

_Aho_: Similar to baka, it means idiot. In certain areas in Japan, this phrase is used much more commonly in place of baka.

_Mou_: Not really a word... it's more like a sound someone makes when pouting.

_Ara?_: Similarly, this is also a said phrase and not a word. Kind of means "huh?" or "oh!", depending on when it's used.

_Hoshi no chikara o himeshi 'kagi' yo! Shin no sugata o ware no mae ni shimese. Keiyaku no moto Sakura ga meijiru…_ _RERIISU! - _As you have probably guessed, this is Sakura's chant when summoning her star wand. The translation goes something like this: "Key concealing the power of the Stars, reveal your true form before me! By our contract, I Sakura, command you! RELEASE!"


	5. Breaking the Barrier

A/N: _Hello again. I again thank all those reviewers that took there time to review A Feeling So Strong. Unlike those readers that just read it and expect me to stay on my computer typing for hours on end like some thankless monkey! Grr!_

_I'm kidding of course. :p  
_

_This chapter is a special chapter for me, as it is my first attempt at some real somewhat tension like S+S interaction, like the name of this chapter suggests (and the stuttering idiots they were last chapter doesn't count :p). Without further ado..._

_

* * *

_**Disclaimer:**

Card Captor Sakura is owned by Clamp. I am just merely borrowing their wonderful characters and ideas to use in this somewhat canon-ish fanfiction of mine. (Is that even a word?)

**

* * *

Chapter 5: Breaking the Barrier

* * *

**

_**Hong Kong**_

_**Li Family Main House**_

_**Training Hall**_

The Li Family training hall was quite like a modern gymnasium of sorts, mixed with a traditional touch. For example, the main workout hall looked very much like a modern fitness center, complete with treadmills, bicycles, and a weight room. It had a big TV mounted on the ceiling to occupy you while you jog; it even had an automatic juice bar over to the side. If you went the next room over, you would enter a traditional floor-boarded sparring hall. To the sides of the room were halberds, spears, katanas, kodachis, and polearms, among various other weapons.

However it wasn't just a facility to train your physical body. There were various other rooms as well... rooms that a person with no magical power would fear.

Li Yelan was standing alone in the center of a pitch black room. She had her eyes closed, mentally preparing herself for what was about to transpire. In a swift moment, magical energy saturated the entire area of the room, leaving only a small circle area was Yelan was standing at untouched. Eventually, the magical energies surrounding Yelan took shape, and formed many green spheres of energy, each circling around her as if planning something.

Yelan then put her guard up, her silvery aura encircling her. Parts of her aura separated from her, forming 20 silver spirit spheres around her, opposing the green spheres that were three times their number.

It was then the exercise began.

The green orbs slowly circling Yelan suddenly came to life and formed an attack pattern. 15 spheres took position at Élan's cardinal directions, and each took turns attacking Yelan with magic bolts. Yelan, her eyes still closed, sensed the attack coming from four directions, and put up her defenses accordingly. Although her spheres were outnumbered, they successfully deflected the enemy's relentless attack.

Soon after, the green spheres scattered all around Yelan, completely surrounding her. Like lost fireflies, they began to fire erratically, without a distinct organized method. Yelan only had about half a second to shoot down one magic bolt coming at her to sense and deflect another one. Her reactions were not quick enough however, as one green colored bolt managed to penetrate her sphere net. Yelan had no choice but to intercept that sphere with one of her own, causing the destruction of one of her spheres.

With her attention distracted however, 10 more green magic bolts passed through her net unchecked, and they collided with her body. Yelan went down to her knees as the room immediately brightened, ceasing the exercise.

"Good work as always, Li-_dono_..." Wei's voice came from the back of the room. "According to my timer it seems you survived for a good 10 minutes. That's one minute higher than your last record."

"Thank you Wei-san." Yelan responded, still catching her breath. "It's too bad you can't really tell what's going on."

"Oh... I can kind of tell..." Wei responded stroking his moustache. "At least, I could tell how much you're struggling by your facial expressions. Yours is quite a bit harder to read than Xiao Lang's though."

"Ah yes, ever since he turned 10, I could never reach his magical strength... Speaking of which, why hasn't that son of mine called? It's already been a week!"

"... Li-_dono_, a week is not that long. And Xiao Lang is probably pre-occupied between his mission and schoolwork anyway."

"Ah yes I know. I guess I should stop worrying... he is a Li after all." Yelan said as she stood up and headed towards the sliding door.

"Oh, before I forget..." Wei spoke up before Yelan could leave. "It seems that a person that goes by the name _Eli Moon _wishes to talk to you. He has contacted you during your training and is currently on the telephone on hold."

"I see..." Yelan responded, pondering something. _'Eli Moon? I never heard that name before but it sounds awfully like...'_

"Tell them to forward it to my office." Yelan said as she slid open and walked out of the room.

"As you wish."

* * *

_**Li Family Main House**_

_**Headmaster's Office**_

After changing to her traditional household kimono, she pushed open the double doors to her office and sat down. Seeing a red flashing light on one of the lines, she pressed it. Not surprised that she saw her phone glow a midnight purple color, she crossed her hands and charged her up her aura in self-defense.

In an instant, a transparent, formless essence flew out of the phone. It flew around aimlessly near the ceiling, and Yelan was watching it with narrowed eyes intently. In a few seconds, it stopped and went to the carpet and took its shape into a transparent grayscale, human form.

"As wary as ever, Li Yelan-_sama_?" came the figure's first words.

Yelan lowered her defenses, and then performed a curt bow. "Forgive my actions, Clow Reed-_sama_, but the alias you gave was very... questionable to say the least."

"I wish you'd stop calling me that. As you know, I'm only a reincarnation." he said with an all-knowing smile.

"Nevertheless, you do carry Clow Reed's memories." Yelan pointed out.

"I may have his memories, but I am my own person. It is only proper to address someone as such."

Yelan gave him a quizzical look. All of the past times they had spoken to each other, she had called him the name of his former self; and during those times he accepted it, or was seemingly not bothered by it. It was a really odd request of him. Was he getting more self-conscious? Perhaps something has happened to him in the past few years that she was not aware of.

"Very well then, Hiragizawa Eriol-_sama_" she finished.

"That's better. So, Li-_sama_, I got your message yesterday saying you wish to speak with me." He started, as his image somehow sat down on the chair in front of Yelan's desk, as if he was corporeal. "It's not everyday I get a call from the Li Clan. To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"I think you know very well what I called you for..." Yelan spoke assumingly.

"I'm afraid I know nothing of what you think that I would know." Eriol interrupted. "After all, I have lost that troublesome ability to see into the future years ago."

Yelan was a little surprised. Seeing into the future was one of Clow Reed's most powerful abilities... in fact it was his trademark. She knew that Eriol didn't treasure the ability much, but he used it as needed. But he finally found a way to get rid of it! For some reason a reincarnation of Clow Reed without that gift didn't seem right.

"You do not have that ability anymore?" she said, her eyes darkening. "How is that possible?"

"Well... let's just say I received the help of a powerful _mahou tsukai _that has much stronger magical strength than I."

Yelan's mind wandered in thought. Even if he has only half the power of Clow Reed, that still made him a very strong magician, as Clow Reed's power was innumerable. There were only four known people alive that could possibly exceed half of Clow Reed's power. One was evil, and one was her son, who she wasn't really sure was stronger anyway. Another would be his other half, but that would only be his equal. That would only leave...

"The new card mistress."

"Very perceptive. As expected of the head of the Li Clan." Eriol bowed.

"In any case, I have called you because the Li Clan has sensed some evil afoot in Japan, I have sent my son there to investigate it already..."

"Ah, my cute little descendent. It's been many years... how is that boy doing?" Eriol interrupted.

Yelan decided to ignore him. "... and even though Xiao Lang is very capable, I worry that he is not strong enough yet. I am requesting your assistance in this matter, in any form possible."

The spirit-like form resembling Eriol went into some thought, pondering the information he just received. _'So something is in Japan that even escaped my knowledge, interesting..."_

"And why should I assist you?" Eriol replied back, still smiling. "Even though we are kin, the Li Clan has been known to be... ambitious."

Yelan slammed her hands on the table. Even though what he said was true, this wasn't the right time to be having her ancestor's history used against her. "This isn't about some kind of power struggle! I am genuinely concerned about my son! And the card mistress as well!" Yelan was looking at Eriol with contempt.

Eriol raised an eyebrow. "The card mistress you say?"

"Yes, you heard me. The card mistress and my son could be in grave danger!"

Eriol stopped smiling and looked straight into Yelan's eyes. Noticing a change in his expression, she glared straight back at him, her eyes not faltering.

After a few seconds Eriol's face relaxed and he showed a genuine smile which surprised Yelan.

"You always were different from the Li's of the past, _Yelan-san_." Eriol said with sincerity. Yelan relaxed her gaze, but kept her eyes on him. "Still, I'm surprised you're even concerned with a complete stranger who's using the very cards that your Clan was frantically trying to find for some time." he said questioningly.

"According to what I have seen and felt, she has done us no wrong, and has been accepted by the card's guardians. That is enough for me." Yelan said, sitting down. "As for her personality, she has got to have a very kind heart to want to help a person like you." she added with a smirk.

"_Touché_" Eriol said, smiling with amusement. "I'm hurt, _Yelan-san."_

"So you will lend us your aid?"

"Very well then." Eriol's smile returned to the one that Yelan knew all too well. "I will... keep an eye on things in Japan from here then. Only because I have a rather... personal concern for the card mistress. And I guess I can't ignore my cute little descendant either."

"Thank you, Hiragizawa-_sama_; that is all I ask." Yelan said, bowing politely. "I trust that you will keep in contact if you sense anything?" she then asked.

"_Hai, hai_. Now if you will excuse me, I am running late for my afternoon tea break. I wouldn't want to keep my friend of mine waiting. _Ja, Sayonara_" he said, as his figure disappeared into thin air.

Yelan relaxed and took a deep breath. She really didn't really enjoy engaging a conversation with him, or anybody that was a stuck-up know-it-all for that matter. But he was the only person who she could turn to, and she was still glad that he had agreed to help them, even in only a limited sense.

-------

Eriol put down his phone, and absorbed the part of his aura that enchanted the phone back into his body. The door to his study then slowly creaked open, revealing a curious Tomoyo.

"Eriol-_kun_, you're late for tea! Who were you talking to on the phone for so long?" she asked.

"Oh... just an old friend." he replied back with a smile.

* * *

_**Kageyama Gakuen**_

_**1:20 PM**_

"And this is Reiji Hall." Chiharu announced, walking past a building that looked a lot more modern than the rest. "Named so because our current principal, Kageyama Reiji, a direct descendent of our founder, used his personal fortune to fund construction of this new building 5 years ago. This is where our math department is for all you number-crunchers."

"You're really good at this Mihara-san!" Mei Ling complimented.

Chiharu blushed. "Thank you, Mei Ling-_san_."

They finally did start the tour, although the overall mood was quite uncomfortable, all thanks to one emerald-eyed girl. The seven of them were walking throughout the school in this order: Chiharu and Yamazaki first, then came Syaoran and Mei Ling, Rika and Naoko, and lastly Sakura taking up the rear. Much to the dismay of everyone, Sakura has been avoiding Syaoran for the whole tour so far.

Noticing this again, Chiharu whispered to Yamazaki: "I wish they would at least talk to each other, this doesn't feel right. And Sakura's missing a golden opportunity here!"

"Me too. It would certainly liven things up a bit…" Yamazaki whispered back.

He looked back at the two Li's walking side by side. He didn't know much about the mysterious Chinese boy; but one good thing he was good at is reading a person's eyes. It was quite an advantage for him, as nobody could read his eyes back. What Li Syaoran's eyes were telling me right now is that he had a confused, questioning look... as if he's not sure how to proceed with something. At least from that, he could tell he wasn't an unfeeling person.

He already did know that his new emerald-eyed friend had a good personality much like Chiharu. (Although, Chiharu definitely wasn't as innocent). If those two would just break this silence and talk to each other, he was sure they would be fast friends! Ahh, why was the human mind so complicated? Well, he did know ways to lighten up a somber mood...

"Mei Ling-_san_?" Rika asked from behind, "If I may ask, how exactly are you and Li-_kun_ related?"

"Oh, I'm Syaoran's mother's sister-in-law's father's son's daughter." Mei Ling replied smoothly.

"Mother's... Sister's... Father's... Mother's... Daughter's... what was that again?" Naoko asked confusingly. Mei Ling giggled.

"Speaking of family trees..." came a male voice from in front of them. "... did you know that the idea originated in ancient China? One day, these peasants from a village went out into the forest to forage some firewood; and then came upon a big panda village! They were living on trees and the head of the family was always on the top, watching over the younger ones below them. The youngest ones were near the bottom, so they wouldn't get injured too much if they fell. So the husband of the family looked at them and said to himself. "Hey! I have an idea!" And he rushed home to..."

"Hey, is he telling the truth?" Mei Ling whispered to Chiharu from directly behind.

"No... don't believe him... please." Chiharu whispered back with an exasperated look.

Behind them Rika and Naoko were also listening to the spiky haired boy.

"He really does tell good jokes every now and then." Rika said to her friend next to her.

"Yeah this one was interesting; too bad it's so farfetched that no one would actually..." Naoko started to say back to her.

"Ooooh! I never knew that!" exclaimed the amber-eyed boy in front of them. "I see... that makes perfect sense!" Syaoran thought aloud.

"It does doesn't it!" Yamazaki smiled. "You're from China aren't you Li-_kun_? I'm surprised you didn't know about this."

Syaoran nodded his head continuously as he thought more and more about it, a bright look in his eyes. The other 3 girls listening in let out a huge sweatdrop. The boy really did buy his tale hook, line, and sinker.

"S--So Mei Ling" came Rika's voice. "Even if you and Li-_kun_ are so far related... the way I see it, you two are a lot closer than that aren't you?" Rika asked.

"Ah! You really think so?" Mei Ling's cheeks tinted a bit red. "You're right... Syaoran is like..." she thought, looking at Syaoran.

"A younger and older brother to me at the same time." she finished.

"Younger and older?" Syaoran wondered.

"Well, you're mature in a lot of things. Like you know how to cook, clean, be responsible, and live independently." She heard some praises from the other girls. "But, you're so dense when in comes to some others." Mei Ling said to him with a smile.

Syaoran looked down embarrassed, and the girls laughed. In the meantime, Sakura was in deep thought.

_'I'd really like to talk to him too, but geez, I blush and get so nervous easily! But what would I say?' _Sakura thought to herself. She could've introduce herself to him but she just got scared and hid in a corner. _'He probably thinks I'm weird and hates me...'_

Rika looked back at Sakura and noticed her eyes had an unfocused look. "_I think I know who she's thinking about!" _Looking at Syaoran, she saw that he was looking to the left at some scenery, with a faraway look in his eyes. The wheels in her mind was spinning, and in a few seconds, an idea cam to her head.

Quickly, Rika whispered something to Naoko. Naoko thought about it, then whispered something to Mei Ling. Eyes widening in glee, she whispered something to Yamazaki. His eyebrows raised in wonder, Yamazaki finally whispered something to Chiharu.

Chiharu's mouth curved into a smile. She and Yamazaki looked back at three of the girls behind him and they all nodded as if they understood.

"Wait here! I need to tie my shoe real fast!" She bent down to tie her right shoe, which Yamazaki purposely untied by stepping on the lace.

"_Hai!_" they all responded except for Sakura. She was so deep in thought that she kept on walking. Rika and Naoko sidestepped to the left and right, respectively, parting to make way for her. Mei Ling casually walked away from Syaoran, sensing the plan going to fruition.

"Li-_kun_ watch out behind you!" Rika said, loud enough for Syaoran and Sakura to hear.

"_Nani?_" he said turning around. His eyes widened as he saw the auburn haired girl walking straight at him!

"Huh?" Sakura said as she was snapped out of her thoughts. Looking straight ahead, she was heading straight toward Syaoran! Her mind told her body to stop but it was too late.

**CRASH!**

Sakura crashed into Syaoran for the second time today.

Syaoran, being the stronger and heavier of the two, was just nudged back a little. Sakura, however...

Seeing Sakura falling backwards, Syaoran first tried grabbing for her arm. But since they were spread out to her sides, he couldn't simply grab her arm like he did last time. Going around to her sides or to the back would take too long as well. So, he did the only thing he could do to prevent her from hitting the ground… Wrap her body in his using both of his arms and pull her up.

Holding her in his arms, Sakura grabbed the backs of his shoulders for support. Looking down at her, he turned slightly red from the closeness. He felt a heart beating fast. Was it her heart, or was it his own?

Being a half-foot shorter, Sakura was leaning against Syaoran's chest. Her heart seemed to be beating a mile a minute! This was the first time a boy has ever held her like that, even if it was only to prevent her from falling. Turning red from the closeness of their bodies, Sakura could only mumble two words out.

"Thank you…"

* * *

_"1. She's obviously still embarrassed with you right now, so you're going to have to take the initiative." _Syaoran's mind recalled Mei Ling's earlier 'lesson'.

* * *

"Say umm..." he started as he backed away from her, letting go. Sakura looked at him questioningly. 

_

* * *

"2. When you finally do get a chance to talk, just apologize for what happened earlier. You were the one that just walked to the door looking the other way, after all. Also it will get you two something to start talking about, and..."_

_

* * *

"3. Don't stutter when you talk!"

* * *

_

"About what happened earlier this morning... umm... I'm-really-sorry-I-should've-watched-where-I-was-going!" Syaoran said to her quickly.

"Hoe?" she started to decipher in her mind what he just said.

"N-No, I was to blame all rushing in there madly like that!" Sakura responded in a high tone.

"You must've had a good reason." Syaoran said, scratching the back of his head. "Besides I was on the other side of the door, there was no way you could've seen me."

"Still it's all my fault!" Sakura insisted.

"No it's not"

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not."

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not."

"Yes it is!"

"No it's not."

"Yes it..." suddenly Sakura burst into a fit of giggles.

"_Ano..._" Syaoran looked at her confusingly. "... what's so funny?"

"It's just that..." she tried to say through her fit of laughter. "... we're arguing like a couple of children!"

Syaoran still didn't get it.

---------

Unknown to the two, their friends have already gathered to one side and was observing them intently.

"Oh my, how _kawaii_!" Rika whispered.

"They do seem to match well _ne_?" Chiharu added.

"Really?" Naoko wondered

"Of course they do, I mean look at them!" Mei Ling said.

"Umm… I still don't see why."

"You're still as unromantic as ever!" Rika huffed. "You really should read more of my stories, Naoko. Get in touch with your romantic side once in a while…"

"Shhh!" Yamazaki shushed. "This is getting interesting."

--------

Sakura finally stopped laughing, and looked at the confused Syaoran. All this time, she thought that he would outright avoid her or be scared of her... I mean if someone did that to her, she probably would avoid that person completely! And she didn't want that. Sakura didn't know why, but she would be really sad if he never talked to her again.

But instead of pushing her away, he wanted to talk to her! That made her all floaty and warm inside.

"Kino..."

"Kino?" Syaoran said back in confusion.

"Kinomoto Sakura! That's my name!" she said out loud.

"Ah..." Syaoran, a little startled by her outburst.. _'Kinomoto Sakura... Sakura means cherry blossom right?'_ he looked at her again. _'Hmm... she almost does look like a blooming cherry blossom in human form... Wow, how did that come into my head?'

* * *

'4. Say what's on your mind! Now I know I wouldn't say this to most people, but you're a good person at heart, so it should be okay.'

* * *

_

"It suits you."

"Hoe?"

"Your name, it suits you. You look... like a _sakura_" he said.

"Hoe..." little tints of red appeared at her cheeks. "Nobody's ever said that to me before!"

"Oh... I'm sorry." Syaoran immediately apologized.

"N-No! I didn't mean that in a bad way! It was a very nice thing to say! It's just that I was a little surprised that's all..." she trailed off. "So you're new here too right? And all the way from China? _Sugoi_..." Sakura said admiringly.

_

* * *

"5. Talk about yourself, it makes her talk about herself to. Get to know each other! You'll find that you might have more in common than you think!"

* * *

_

"Yeah, I'm staying in the West Wing with Mei Ling."

"Hoe... The West Wing? I heard it gets hot over there."

"It sure does, especially in a day like this. But we sort of..." he paused, trying to think of what to say. "... registered in the last minute; so we didn't have much choice."

"Oh, that's too bad..."

"But it's okay. I was born in Hong Kong, and it's MUCH worse there than it is in our room."

"Really? You're from Hong Kong? I went there one time, and I loved it there!"

* * *

_"6. And finally, be yourself. Don't try to be someone you're not. Smile when you feel like smiling, cry when you feel like crying... don't force it."

* * *

_

Syaoran couldn't help but smile as she said that. For someone to absolutely love the place you grow up in, it would make anybody happy!

"I'm glad to see a fellow Hong Kong lover in Japan!"

As Sakura looked at Syaoran's smiling expression, she couldn't help but blush. She knew he was good looking from the moment they met, but when he smiled, he just looked so much more attractive. She felt something tense up within her and she started to feel something. It was unlike what she felt this morning, but it was a strange, new, unknown feeling. Whatever it was, it made her body temperature rise and her heart beat faster and faster. Syaoran seemed to notice the difference, and then stared at her face.

"Are... you ok?"

"Huh? Oh!" she replied, putting her hands on her cheeks and looking anywhere but his face. "I'm fine, I'm just... feeling a little hot that's all." she lied, hoping he would buy it.

"Well..." he said, and put a hand on her forehead. "You do feel a little hot."

Unbeknownst to Syaoran, as soon as he put a hand on her forehead, she looked up at him surprised. As soon as she felt his skin touch hers, she suddenly felt a strong sensation within her body once again; as if she was an electric pole to Syaoran's thunder. This time however, it was so strong that she lost all her senses...

"Sakura!"

"Sakura-_chan_!"

"Kinomoto!"

And she fainted on the spot.

* * *

**-Sakura-**

_Stirring a little I opened my eyes. Seeing some very unfamiliar scenery I immediately looked around. I was on a kind of road in the middle of the forest. The sun was shining through the foliage, bringing out all of the natural colors of the trees. The trees were as tall as those buildings at Kageyama. Kageyama... Kageyama?_

_Eyes widening, my mind realized that I was no longer at Kageyama. The Li's and the rest of my friends were no where to be found. What happened? I looked down at my attire and found that she was no longer wearing the bright, white and blue summer uniform, but was wearing a pink kimono with portraits of cherry blossoms painted all over it._

_Was this a dream?_

_I've had strange, prophetic dreams in the past, but I've never received another one ever since my card captoring days ended. Usually when I am 'aware' when I was dreaming, like I am now, it was some kind of prophecy of sorts._

_Was this a prophecy then?_

_Seemingly in an instant, there were two children that was right in front of me. I couldn't make out their faces for some reason, as the sun's rays seemed to block them from view. _

_"Hey... how long are you going to stand there nee-san?" came a boy's voice._

_"Me?"_

_"Of course you dummy, you're the only one here!" said the other figure's voice, the voice of a young girl. "C'mon!" she yelled back at me as she followed the boy into the forest._

_Instinctively I followed them. Who were those two?_

_I seemed to be following them on an endless path. The tree patterns never changed, and the sun's angle didn't move. At the same time, the path was repeating the same pattern. It tilted to the left once, then to the right twice, and then repeated itself._

_All of a sudden I saw a shining bright light, it was so very bright, like salvation at the end of a tunnel. The boy and the girl naturally walked into it and disappeared from my sight. Determined to follow them, I ran faster. I came closer and closer..._

_As I reached the source of the light, it enveloped my surroundings in a brilliant white flash. When the light subsided... I was in a clearing in the forest. At the center stood a huge tree, which was 3 times bigger than any tree that I have never seen! I couldn't make out what kind of tree it was though. In front of me the girl stood before me, looking the same direction, and the boy was looking at the both of us standing the opposite way._

_"Here we are Sakura-chan! Let's go." the boy said._

_Hearing my name being called, I was about to respond when suddenly the boy grabbed the little girl's left hand._

_"Okay!" the girl nodded happily._

* * *

"Sakura's awake!" 

"Unnn..." I stirred as I stood up from a lying position. It was like I woke up from a really long dream. I think I just saw a big tree in the middle of the forest or something.

"Are you okay, Sakura-_chan_?" Rubbing eyes, I saw a somewhat blurry image of Chiharu in front of me. I looked around at my surroundings, seeing the familiar scenery of a concrete path, trees, and Reiji hall looming beneath them. I was on a bench near the place where I last remembered I was at.

"_Hai. _I'm just fine Chiharu-_chan_."

"Well..." Chiharu said, feeling my forehead "It seems you don't have a fever or anything. I guess you really were just tired."

"_Hai. _I did unpack and organize our entire dorm room after all."

I saw an instant wave of relief wash over the six faces that were staring at me. All except one, who was still hanging his head in shame.

"Li-_kun_, it wasn't your fault. You didn't do anything wrong." I said to him with a reassuring smile. "I am a klutz after all." I finished, bonking my own head.

"So, you don't hate me or something?" he asked carefully.

"Hate you? That's the most..." I stood up and looked him in the eye. "... ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" I said to him truthfully. And then for some reason, I started laughing to myself. Syaoran looked at me for a few seconds and then started to laugh to. I could tell the rest of us were looking at us like we're from another planet or something.

"Hey did you guys know that laughing was diagnosed as a disease in Ancient Rome? Because..."

"YAMAZAKI _NO BAKA!_"

I didn't really have to look up to know what happened.

* * *

_**Sakura no Michi**_

_**3:00**_

The long tour ended after a couple of hours, quite regrettably. After my little fainting episode, the whole tour in of itself was a lot livelier. Between Chiharu's ramblings, Yamazaki's lies, Mei Ling's puns, Syaoran's inherent shyness, and Naoko and Rika's constant teasing; it made the whole tour like some exciting summer camping trip.

Yamazaki stayed behind with Chiharu, who was returning for her next group to act as a tour guide; and Rika and Naoko stayed behind to meet a few of the sensei's of the subjects they were interested in, happily thanking me that they didn't have to "work on their room" for the rest of the day, although I suspected another reason.

So that left the two Li cousins and me walking back to dormitories together.

"So Kinomoto-_san_" I heard Mei Ling whispering off the corner of my left ear. "Tell me, what did you think of Syaoran?"

"Huh?" I whispered back, not quite understanding.

"Syaoran!" Mei Ling shouted. "Go on ahead, I need to have a little girl-to-girl talk with Kinomoto here!"

"Girl-to-girl talk?" he questioned.

"You know! Girl stuff! Now go on! Shoo!" The amber-eyed boy just raised one eyebrow in curiosity before walking a little faster, breaking away from the two.

Making sure he was out of ear-shot, Mei Ling turned back to me. "You see, Syaoran is a really shy person."

I laughed a little bit. "Yeah, I noticed."

"So he doesn't really have much experience when talking to people. And he hadn't shown the interest in doing so either..." she paused, and noticed me intent on listening to the conversation. "But you know, suddenly he's trying to do so... trying to make friends that is."

'_Trying to make friends?'_

"Yeah. He really really wanted to talk to you, after what happened in the morning. To be honest I didn't know at the time whether he wanted to just apologize or ask you out or whatever..." she continued. I turned red for some reason at the 'ask you out' part.

"In the end though, I think all he wanted to do was make a new friend... don't you think so?" Mei Ling finished. I thought long and hard of what she said.

_'That whole time, from when he first caught me from falling this morning... he was just trying to have a conversation with me... trying to get to know me... trying to get me to get to know him. So that what he was trying to do all along! And here I was swooning and fainting all over him like some kind of crazed fan girl! Even if I couldn't help it... that's horrible! Hoeeeeee...'_

Mei Ling looked at me during that entire thought. "It's okay, I don't think he thinks you're weird or something." she said to me, seemingly knowing what I was thinking about. "I mean it's understandable... it's pretty obvious that you like him..."

"No I don't!... I mean..." I stopped, thinking of the right words to say. "I do like him! But not in that way. It's just that there's something about him that I can't get my mind of."

Mei Ling eyed me with a weird look. "Isn't that the same as liking someone?"

"No! I mean yes! I mean... you know, I think he's an interesting person, but not physically! Umm... well it's true that he's really handsome, but it's not like I'm infatuated over it! Well... I do think about it from time to time, but it's more like whenever he looks at me I... Hoeeeee..." I started pouting. I didn't even make sense to myself.

Mei Ling looked at me with dotty eyes and then suddenly burst out laughing.

"Hahahahaha! You sure are an interesting person Kinomoto!" she said hitting me hard on the back.

"Hoe..." I sweatdropped_. 'Mou, no one believes me! Li-kun is just... different. I can't put my finger on it. But I always get nervous anytime I talk about it! Hoe...'_

-------

After a minute of enduring Mei Ling's relentless laughter, we finally came to the top of the hill, where the entrance to the dorm's plaza is at. There we saw Syaoran, just standing still, seemingly staring at the sky.

"Syaoran! Sorry, for making you wait!" Mei Ling shouted to him.

"_Iie." _he responded. In an instant he then turned to me. "Kinomoto-_san_..." he started.

I was quite surprised. "_Hai?" _I squealed out in a high pitch tone.

"About what happened during that tour... I guess it was probably weird to have someone touch you all of a sudden, for an unimportant reason. Isn't that kind of what I did to you this morning? I'm really sorry... I just thought something was wrong... and my hand just kind of acted on its own."

My surprised expression turned into a warm one. My eyes softened and a really bright smile formed on my lips.

"It's okay Li-_kun_, thank you for worrying about me!" I said in the most cheerful tone I possibly could.

I looked up at him, and for some reason his cheeks turned a shade redder.

"I... It was nothing."

* * *

_**Preview for the next chapter:**_

**Rika: **Operation: Sakura-_chan_ crash into Li-_kun_: Success!

**Sakura: **_Mou!_ That was really embarrassing Rika!

**Rika: **Perhaps, but I know you enjoyed it!

**Sakura: **Hoe…

**Chiharu: **It seems the walls between Sakura-_chan_ and Li-_kun_ finally broke down, and now they're all buddy-buddy! How cute!

**Yamazaki: **And tomorrow is our first day of class. Things are just looking up! I wonder how high school is really like?

**Mei Ling: **The first day of high school! Ooohh! I can't wait!

**Yamazaki: **Next time on A Feeling So Strong: Chapter 6: "The First Day". See you then!

**Naoko: **The first day to the best three years of your life!

**Sakura: **Hoe...

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_**Translations:**_

_mahou tsukai_ - 'magic user'

_sugoi_ - 'wonderful!', 'incredible!'

_nee-san_ - Informal way of saying '_onee-san_', which means sister, or any female who you respect who's not too much older than you.


	6. The First Day

**A/N:** _Hello again everyone! Thank you to the people that reviewed my last chapter. Here are some responses from me on a few of them:_

_**LadyAkina: ** You really do ask a lot of questions. If I answered them all, it would just ruin the story wouldn't it:) Well, some of the questions you ask did give me some... interesting ideas._

_**Armageddon Angel:** Thank you for your honest opinion. To be honest I was so happy when I read your response... I finally got my first criticism, wow! Yes I know it's been a little fluffy with a fairly slow plot advancement, but trust me, it's in my grand scheme of things. As I said before, slow and steady is my writing style._

_**DualBlade:** I'm glad I gave you a good laugh :)_

_**darkazureblossom: **You're welcome. I was hoping not to put too much Japanese to interrupt the story's flow, but a few just because there are quite a few expressions that I really wanted to include... and it just wouldn't sound 'right' in English. It's good to know that having those translations were helpful._

_I sure had a rough time writing this chapter, as it's my longest yet. I must say though, that I'm kicking off the story's main plot from here on out, so sit back, and enjoy._

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**Disclaimer:**

Card Captor Sakura is the property of Clamp. I'm just borrowing their wonderful characters to use in this story of mine.

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**Chapter 6: The First Day**

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_**China, Xi Province**_

_**Early Han Dynasty**_

_**178 B.C.E.**_

The sun was rising above the white snow capped mountains, giving it's warm grace to the cold, unforgiving deserts of western Xi. The almost inhabitable temperatures of the desert at sunset would eventually give way to its almost equal counterpart at midday. Yet there was life abound in the desert today, and not with camel hooves that usually littered the frequently used trade routes of Central Asia.

The arid, yet tranquil feeling of the morning in the desert was washed away in an instant, as hundreds of Chinese men, all dressed in the Imperial armor of the Han, marched forward steadily, their footsteps being slowly swept away by the desert winds that surrounded them.

I was watching atop a hill to the immediate west of their location, surveying the battalion. Three units of armored spearman were taking up the head, five squads deep. While two units of bowmen took up the rear end. It seems that fool of an emperor, Liu Bang, thinks that he can achieve his objectives with the might of his army alone.

An evil smile forming my way on my lips, I leaped off my little perch. Soaring in the dust-saturated air of western Xi, I twisted my body to an upright position before landing right at the fore of the army, facing the commander fifty meters ahead.

"Halt! Halt!" I heard the squad leaders say, as the entire army came to a stop, all ten thousand of the men looking right at my figure.

Magically projecting my voice, I almost roared at the hostile forces. "So, I see the fools from Chang An sent me some more fodder for target practice."

Seeing the mob of soldier's faces holding a mixture of fear, anger, contempt, and uneasiness made me crack a small laugh to myself. The commander, however, didn't seem intimidated by my taunts and rode a little ahead of his troop. Good. I love it when they struggle until the end. It makes their death much more satisfying.

"Huang Zhu Xun" he shouted, saying a name that people use to call me. "By the order of Emperor Liu Bang, we are placing you under arrest, for the destruction of Xi'an, and the murderous deaths of..."

"... 56,700 people..." I continued for him. "... Come quietly or we will have to resort to force... yadda yadda blah blah blah. I heard it all before. Your predecessors said the same boring speech and I had to hear it over and over again. The last one had this voice so annoying, that I just granted him an instant death, just to calm my ears."

"Silence villain!" the commander shouted back. "You're a fool to meet us head on like this! As I speak, my bowmen have already covered your flanks, and my spearman will overpower you with sheer force. Take your pick... a sea of spears, or a rain of arrows! This is the end for you!"

I just smirked at him, awaiting his next action.

The commander pulled out his gold-hilted longsword and pointed it squarely at my face. "All units att--" he stopped short as he suddenly came face to face with me, my hand right at the center of his armor chestpiece.

"Oh, did you know?" I said to him with joy radiant in my eyes. "That while you were blabbing your mouth at insolence at my mere illusion back there that I just happened to sneak by your entire guard?"

"Ahh!" he gave out a scream as I concentrated a fraction of the dark magic I was capable of into my right palm, and released it right into his abdomen. In an instant, he was knocked clear off his mount into the men behind him; his own soldier's sea of spears, which he was flaunting about so proudly half a minute ago, impaling the rest of his frail body.

Seeing their commander fall, the rest of the soldiers were sent into a state of panic; each soldier running for their lives, trying to escape from the next evil spell that I would conjure.

"Yeeees! Yeees! Run, run! So how far your puny little legs can take you!" I yelled at them, and performed a small incantation.

A vortex appeared in the sky above the retreating soldiers, it's surroundings crackling with dark thunder. The vortex expanded and expanded until it covered an entire 200 meter radius over most of the retreating soldiers. It's darkness glooming over their horror-stricken faces.

"And now... you all die!" I shouted before closing my eyes in concentration.

"_Ten ka kai rai ku chi sha..." _I chanted, gathering the negative energies around me. My hands grew more and more dark as my energy capacity reached it's peak.

In one swift motion, my mind focused all the energy I had gathered into the vortex itself, and I released it with one cry.

"HAAA!"

But nothing happened.

_"What?"_

The soldiers, noticing the black vortex hover menacingly over them... but not taking any action, continued to run as far as they can. I inaudibly cursed as I tried again and again to complete the spell... which would suck all those hapless soldiers into oblivion. But the vortex just hovered there, seemingly like an optical illusion.

_"LIGHT!" _I heard a loud male voice shout out towards the direction of where my vortex was formed. In a flash, a bright stream of light appeared from the desert surface and pierced through the dark portal which I summoned. Squinting my eyes at its brilliance, the vortex was cut in two, and was replaced by the morning sky.

"_What is this? Who did this?" _I thought inwardly, feeling a slight rush off a panic for the first time in a long time.

"Poor Cheng Yuan..." I heard the same male voice that I heard from afar, except this time it was much closer. "... I warned him not to charge headstrong into an unknown foe, but he insisted on taking all the glory." I saw his figure before me. It was a very tall person holding a body of some sort. As the dust cleared, I saw a black eyed, black haired man with his hair tied on his back; wearing spectacles and a robe of some kind. He was holding the body of that fool of a commander that I killed instantly earlier.

"I will burn and store the ashes in his memory later, it is the least I can do." he was seemingly talking to the dead body, before setting him down on the harsh sands.

I looked him squarely in the eye. No ordinary person could face one such as I without fear... much less break the dark vortex which I summoned. "Identify yourself! Have you too been sent by that dog Liu Bang?"

For the first time, his eyes turned up and looked at me; as if he was staring through me into my soul. "I am no one's master but my own." he responded casually. "I have heard much about you, Huang Zhu Xun. How you kill without mercy and you destroy without abandon."

I observed him as much as I could. He was not a Chinese, nor an Indian. He had quite a mysterious and confident air around him, which annoyed me to no end.

"So what of it? I assume you didn't come to just talk."

The stranger looked at me and smiled in a cold, calculating way. "You are correct. I have heard you aren't exactly the social type... not even bothering to hold a civil conversation with anyone; preferring to kill them instead."

"And... what's it to you?"

"Well Huang Zhu Xun, a person such as I cannot just turn a blind eye to this kind of atrocity forever. You are... a nuisance to society after all." he said with a smirk.

This guy was really starting to get on my nerves. It was my job to annoy the hell out of my opponent before I killed him, not the other way around! "A nuisance to society huh? Well, turn a blind eye to this!" I shouted, releasing a shadow bolt from my left hand that I have been secretly charging up, behind my back. As the orb of pure darkness flew toward him at high velocity, I was satisfied as I saw the surprised look in his face.

"Impregnate fool! Feel the wrath of the dark arts! You thought you stood a chance--" I paused and looked at the man with shock as my shadow bolt dissipated harmlessly as it hit his body. "What?"

"A sneak attack just as I suspected." the man said as a glowing yellow barrier made itself visible surrounding his body. "You shadow mages really have no honor... not like most normal mages don't have any as well of course. But a shot aimed right at the heart as an opener? Tsk tsk..."

He reached inside of his robe and pulled out what looked to be like a tarot card, and he slowly turned it around to reveal its picture to me. It had a grey background with a picture of a wing-shaped object bonded with chains, the wing having a large, red jewel on its left side. On the bottom read some letters that I didn't understand, but I immediately recognized the kanji symbol on top.

_'Shield'_

Eyes widening in realization, I stepped back. _'No... it couldn't be him!'_.

"That's a clow card!" I said in more of a shocked tone that a surprised one. "Then you're... you're..."

Before I could confirm my suspicions, a big flowing deck of cards came from his robe, flowing evenly like a musical score. They cards encircled the magician, floating evenly in a two crossed rings around his body. He floated in the air and released the aura within him. His aura was like a blinding white light, and I was forced to advert my senses. It was like staring straight at the afternoon sun in the middle of summer.

"Yes, I am... _Clow Reed_." he announced. "And you, you little troublemaker, will be silenced here and now."

My worst suspicions came true.

This was Clow Reed. His exploits were known far and wide even though he tried to keep a low profile. His wisdom was limitless and he possessed the very much coveted ability to foresee future events. Even though he was known to be an eccentric isolationist type of person, he does get involved with the outside world, when he sees fit. That's how his name became a legend. What luck of mine to bump into him.

But I was no pushover as well. I have become powerful in my own right, using my Taoist knowledge to further my dark ambitions. I was taught to harness the negative energy within things and people, much similar to the ancient necromancers of old. I knew I couldn't get away from this powerful sorcerer, so I steeled myself and got ready for a fight. I will not die here!

"If you are Clow Reed then... prepare to meet your maker!" I shouted as a challenge. Harnessing the latent shadow energies once again, I launched a multitude of shadow bolts from my palms, manipulating the powerful bolts like puppets, I commanded them to surround him on all sides.

"Let's see your shield block all of this!"

Looking at his surroundings, Clow Reed seemed to still have a cool, calm demeanor around him. "_Sand!" _he said in a low tone.

Almost instantaneously, the sands of the desert roared to life as it was swept away from the ground. Moving as smoothly and fluidly as water, it surrounded its master completely. My shadow bolts impacted with the sand barrier all at once, and the result was many large explosions which caused the summoned sand to fly everywhere in the air. As my attacking shadow bolts dwindled down to nothing, Clow Reed was still flying in the same spot, completely unharmed as the sand still surrounded him and the cards.

"Been a while since I used this card..." he mused loud enough for me to hear. "Even the most powerful of shadow magicks can be beaten by a low level spell, as long as you use the environment correctly."

"Giving ME a lesson in the dark arts!" I exclaimed angrily. "You..." I started slowly. "You will now face one of my most powerful spells! Something that your pitiful excuse for 'sand' magic won't do a thing against!" I flew up in the air, to the same level as he was. I looked him in the eye as I started my incantation for a forbidden dark magic spell, even among the dark magicians. Not that I really cared.

_"Ku shou go shi ma yi ma na tsu ra na su..." _In a sudden instant, my throat went dry. I continued mouthing the rest of the incantation, but it didn't come out as any sound from my mouth. _'What's going on? I can't speak!' _I thought with surprise, looking at the only being that could possibly be the culprit.

One of the cards floating around Clow Reed was glowing with his aura. He took the card and revealed it to my eyes. The card showed a tall, slender woman wearing a long, dark blue robe with a cape that wrapped around her collar.

'_Silent'_

"You know, for all you talk you sure don't know the basics of a magic-user during a battle." Clow reed said to me in an almost scolding tune. "Who would perform an extremely long incantation right when your opponent is facing you, undistracted? The only thing you scum know how to do is to pick on the weak!" he said to me, anger displacing the humor on his face. He took one more card from his floating deck, and made it glow with his aura. "_Windy! _Form a binding chain!"

The power of the windy card flowed violently out of the card and straight at me. I struggled to defend myself to no avail... the Silent card sapping me of most of my spell capability. The graceful, yet violent wind spirit encircled me in the air, binding my body like chains with its powerful wind energy. _'I don't believe this! Easily beaten as if I'm just an ant, waiting to be stepped on."_

"I would strike you down here and now but..." Clow Reed said to me. "I know that souls that practice the dark arts view death as only a stage of existence, and you would find as much power as a wandering spirit as you would a human, if not more..." He became silent as he pointed his staff right at me.

"You who kill without mercy, spend eternity in repentance!" he shouted, as all of his cards returned back to his robe except one. This card showed a regal woman with straight black hair, it's background as dark as the void itself.

_'Dark'_

With the card's powers released, I saw nothing but the a stream of blackness emit towards me from his staff.

And then I blacked out.

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_**1998 C.E.**_

That fateful day has forever stayed in my mind, even now.

I was beaten completely, a humiliating defeat at that, at the hands of the master of the clow cards. I was then forced to reside in his dark prison for the last two centuries, trapped in the confines of nothingness. I cried out in despair at my horrible fate, bound to this world of darkness forever.

In about 60 years, my body has already withered away, but my soul remained intact. In my spirit form, I found I was quite a bit stronger spiritually then I was in my physical body, and I stopped my useless complaining, and bided my time and energy until I saw a way to get out of this foreboding place.

About 500 years later, my chance came, as I sensed that Clow Reed was no longer of this world. I was surprised by his sudden disappearance, and I wondered if he actually died. Nevertheless, the _Dark's_ power was noticeably getting weaker over time, and I was waiting patiently, for that moment to break through to the real world. The card's power was still very strong yes, but eventually I would have my chance.

It would not be until about two centuries that I the _Dark's _power would finally be weak enough not to be able to hold me here any longer.

And now, I am finally free. Finally after almost two and a half centuries of nothingness, I finally re-entered the world of the living. Looking at the world I once trod upon, it has changed drastically. There were humans everywhere, and they built giant towers, wore strange clothing, and used unusual machines to go about their business.

I just wanted to destroy it all. Two and a half centuries in darkness will do that to you.

However, having no physical form whatsoever, I couldn't just simply mutter a destructive spell anymore. I would have to use the powers that I could in this intangible form in other ways. In any case, the first thing on my mind was to get vengeance on Clow Reed. I knew he wasn't alive now, but most likely had descendents to carry on his legacy.

And I will hunt them down and kill them mercilessly. I slithered across the modern cities and countryside of the world, using my dark powers to search for a trace of any of Clow Reed's power. They will pay for their ancestor's actions against him, oh... they would pay.

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_**Present Day**_

_**Kageyama Gakuen Ryou**_

_**East Wing: Room 205**_

_**7: 15 AM**_

**-Sakura-**

"Rise and shine Sakura! You don't want to be late on your first day do you?"

I heard a nice, pleasant voice calling my name. It was quite familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it. It was a soft, yet gentle voice. For some reason I just couldn't will myself to pry my eyes open. Sleep felt so good, so very good. It's one of life's greatest pleasure's that people don't appreciate enough.

"Kero-_chan_, can't I sleep for just a few more minutes?" I mumbled.

I heard a ruffling sound a little above me, and I saw a very bright light sweep over my closed eyelids. Still not opening eyes I shifted under my blanket to get the sun's rays out of the lids of my eyes. Someone just HAD to open the curtains.

"I'm not Kero-chan! You're going to have to stop getting in class in the last minute like you always used to do!"

"Hoe?" I questioned, slowly opening my eyes. "Oh, Rika!" I was a bit surprised, then gave out a nervous chuckle. Oh yeah, I'm not living in Tomoeda anymore... I did move to Tokyo yesterday, and my family is nowhere near this area. "Sorry, I guess I'm not quite use to being away from home yet."

She smiled back at me. "Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"I suppose I will. _Ja, Oyasumi_" I said turning my back to her, pulling the sheets completely over me and closing my eyes. I was still so sleepy for some reason; maybe she'd let me sleep for a few more minutes...

"SAKURA!" I heard Rika yell as she violently pulled the sheets off my body. Feeling a cold draft, I finally gave in.

"Okay, okay, I'm up." I said reluctantly. "Whose idea was it to start school on a Friday anyway?"

"Who knows, probably just to introduce things and take it easy for a while, I guess…" Rika explained. "Say, who's Kero-_chan_? Is it your pet frog or something?" she questioned.

I opened my eyes wide in alertness. '_Hoe? How did she know about Kero-chan? Wait... when I woke up didn't I say something...'_ I then inwardly slapped myself. _'Oh no! Think of something Sakura! Quick!"_

"Umm... yeah! Kero-_chan_ is this... pet frog I had back home!"

"And it could talk?"

"No! It was... It was my talking alarm clock! Yeah! Instead of ringing it says "Good morning!" over and over again until I wake up!"

Rika looked at me a little oddly for a moment. "Ah... I see. Well, Kero-chan must've been broken or something for you to be late to class so much..."

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_**Kinomoto Residence**_

_**7:15 AM**_

It was another, fine morning in Tomoeda. Ever since the entire Kinomoto family left to pursue their dreams, education, business, or what not. It's been very quiet in this house, unlike how it used to be just a month ago.

"Sakura off to high school, her brother off to college, their father working full time at the university, and all of Sakura's friends gone..." he sighed. "Well I'm not going to be lonely! I've been entrusted with the job of guarding this place with my life! No thief or burglar will set foot in this house without feeling the wrath of the mighty Cerberus!" Kero said to himself, flexing his little arm. "When the Kinomotos return, they'll find their nice, cozy home safe and sound!"

His eyes then focused back to the TV. "Well it's not like I'm complaining! I have my gamestation and all the games I could possibly want! Plus, Sakura left the _Sweet _Card with me! Ah... this is just like paradise... Peace, quiet, games, and all the sweets in the world. I hope they don't come back in a while...! Okay I'm just kidding on that last part!"

Kero was playing a new racing game, but this time, he was playing a multiplayer online one. He could race against other players from all over the world, right from the comfort of his living room! Surprisingly, after about a few days of playing online, he found that he was skilled compared to other people... and I mean _really, really _skilled.

He was in an eight person race, and he was barely ahead of the car in second place. It was the last lap, and there was only a very sharp curve between him and the finish line.

"I'm leaving you in the dust! See you later, sucker!" Kero shouted, shifting his gears and beginning to perform the drift he mastered, when...

"A--A--A-CHOO!" he violently sneezed, knocking him clear across the living room and almost hitting the wall on the other side. Rubbing his nose, he looked back at the TV screen in horror. His car crashed into the railing and flipped in the air two times, as the other seven racers passed him and crossed the finish line.

"Noooooo!"

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"Well don't worry! From now on, I'll train you to wake up early so you'll never be rushing late again!" Rika said to me in such a shining and cheerful voice that I have never seen before... at least, not at seven in the morning anyway. I could never be like that, I was not a morning person after all.

"Arigatou..." I said to her with a sweatdrop. _'How can someone be so cheerful and energetic in the morning?'_

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_**West Wing: Room 317**_

_**7:15 AM**_

**-Mei Ling-**

Ah sleep. The one thing almost everyone takes for granted. And that was the state I was in. It was like an eternal bliss; your mind being in a dreamy state, shut off from the realities of the outside world. Sometimes you wish that you would never wake up. This is one of those days.

BRRRIIIING!

_'The alarm clock shall die.'_

Punching the 'Sleep' button on the alarm clock a little harder than intended, I heard a nasty metal crashing sound as the alarm clock was crushed under my fist.

"I heard that Mei Ling." my roommate's calm voice came from the living room "It's a good thing I remembered to bring extra alarm clocks. Try to make the next one's life expectancy last more than one day."

My cheeks flushed. _"Gomen!"_ I yelled out.

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After getting dressed in my new school uniform. I opened the living room door to find Syaoran with his back facing me, dressed in his green ceremonial robes. He had his eyes closed, and was standing as still as a stone. In his left hand he was holding what looked to be like two small, thin wooden sticks; about 4 centimeters in long and 1 centimeter wide.

In his right hand, he was holding a sword. I immediately identified it as his favorite weapon to use in combat: A _Jian, _or _Tsurugi _in Japanese, a double edged broadsword that was light enough to wield with one hand. It used to be his father's sword, I recalled. Because using a _Tsurugi _left his off-hand free, Syaoran could use it to hold his _ofudas _or to perform other spells, a necessity to his fighting style. In addition, he could use his off-hand to help wield the _Tsurugi_, adding to its physical attack strength if he so wished.

In a flash he shifted his feet back and formed a defensive stance, sword at the ready. Gracefully taking a step forward he leapt up and swung his sword downward, piercing the thin air. His eyes still closed he tossed up two thin half-foot tall wooden sticks in the air. In two quick strokes he swung his sword; it would almost appear that he didn't move to the untrained eye. A second later, four thin two centimeter long wooden sticks clanged on the floor. He has successfully cut the two original sticks cleanly in half.

"Training in the morning as usual Syaoran?" I asked him, recognizing his exercise.

"_Hai_. Even during school, it's a good idea to keep your mind focused and your body sharp." he replied as he opened his eyes and sheathed his sword.

I looked down at saw what appeared to me a small chip on the wooden floor. Looking at the shape of his scabbard mounted on his back, it perfectly matched the shape.

"Syaoran! Look what you did, oh flawless one." I said pointing to the dent.

"Well, it wouldn't have happened if someone didn't distract me by crushing a certain alarm clock of theirs."

"Eheheh." I laughed nervously. "Anyways, hurry up and get dressed! It's almost time to meet up with Kinomoto-_san_ and the others."

"Kinomoto-_san_?" Syaoran said with a hint of confusion. "Oh right... we did promise _Sakura-chan_ that we'd walk to school together with her friends yesterday, didn't we?" he said in a nonchalant tone, stepping towards his room.

"Yup! Good thing you didn't forget!" I smiled. "I think that Saku--" I stopped, and suddenly realized what my roommate just said.

"Ah! Ahhhh!" I yelled out, and dashed over right in front of my cousin and put my hands squarely on his shoulders. "You.. you..." I started to say; the words still clogged in my mouth. "You just... you just..."

"Huh?"

"You just called her _Sakura-chan_! I didn't know you were on a first name basis with her already! When did you two become so close?"

"I... I did?" he replied back, turning a little red.

"Yes!"

"That's odd..." he said slowly, placing a hand on his chin in thought. "I didn't really mean to say that... It kind of just, slipped out of my mouth naturally I guess."

"Slipped... from your mouth?" I said incredulously.

"Yeah, that's right. I don't know... but for some reason it feels like that I should call her that. It's really strange..."

"Hmm..." I took my hands off his shoulders and crossed my arms in thought as well. "Well her family name is a little... unwieldy I guess? Maybe that's why..."

"I guess..." my roommate shrugged.

"In any case, watch what you say in public because..." I leaned into his face and whispered to him, even if we were the only ones in sight. "I have a feeling her friends would torture you both to death if you just suddenly called Kinomoto-san that!" I said in a looming voice.

I saw a lump in his throat. "Uh... right. I'll remember that. Anyways, I need to get in my uniform..." he dashed to his room and closed the door.

_'Hmm... maybe I should've said that. It would've been really funny if he actually called out 'Sakura-chan!' really loud when he saw her! Nah, that would be too cruel I think. Hehe.' _I went to the window, observing the spectacle below. Our room was in the "inner" side, so it had a good view of the plaza with its majestic fountain in the middle. Right now, there were hundreds of students buzzing about, all headed towards the campus.

_'It's crowded, but it's still got nothing on Hong Kong...' _I thought, remembering the hectic rush hour where students and adults alike rushed to their places of school and work, respectively.

_'Hmm... Sakura-chan... Sakura-chan...'_ I said to myself repeatedly. _'Syaoran is right, it DOES naturally slip off the tongue... strange.'_

_

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_

_**Sakura no Michi**_

_**7:30 AM**_

As the morning breeze played with the fully bloomed cherry blossoms, many of them were falling sideways toward the ground in the direction of the breeze. It was a light breeze, and the pink petals drifted lightly, steadily, like gentle snow on a nice winter's day. It created such a beautiful artistic view.

Sakura, Rika, and Naoko met up with Chiharu and Yamazaki at the top of the beautiful walkway down the hill. Yesterday, they agreed to go to classes together with the Li cousins, and decided to wait at the start of the Sakura no Michi for them. A few of them gazed out at the sakura trees below them, on the sides of the downward pathway.

"It'll be a shame that there won't be any Sakura Blossoms falling like this, come winter." Yamazaki said.

"True, those blossoms make the place seem magical, in a way." Naoko added.

"Hey did you know..." Yamazaki started pointing one finger up. "... that in ancient Edo, there were sometimes whole blizzards of sakura petals raining down on the streets, clogging up roadways so densely that it took hours to brush aside and burn. In fact, it became so much of a problem that..."

"Ok ok, that's enough from you. You're ruining the mood." Chiharu said as he clamped his mouth shut from behind him.

"Mmm… I can probably stare at the falling blossoms for hours… don't you think so too Sakura?" Rika asked.

Sakura, nearly oblivious to the conversation, was instead looking around in surprise at the amount of people walking to school. In stark contrast to when she arrived the day before, there seemed like there were 50 times the amount of people there were before! Almost everybody was wearing the bright summer uniform, although some people were wearing the darker winter uniform. It was the start of spring after all, and with the slight breeze playing around, blowing the cold air from the mountains above, it was a little chilly. In the huge ocean of students that were walking down the path into the school, much like a waterfall washing into a lake, Sakura was looking for a certain brown haired fish in the sea.

"Looking for Li-_kun_, Sakura?" she heard Rika say.

"_Hai_… I thought they might've went ahead of us, but I can't find him or Mei Ling-_chan_ anywhere!" Even if they didn't really have to get to campus so early, they seemed like the type that would be very punctual about being timely in the morning, unlike her.

"Maybe they're running a little late?" said Yamazaki.

"Okay, let's go over there and wait up for them." Chiharu pointed out somewhere. "I know this pair of benches with a great view up ahead and…"

She suddenly stopped talking as everyone looked at the place where she was pointing. Looking out at the campus were two people, backs facing them. One had messy brown hair and the other had black hair tied into two long pigtails.

"Mei Ling-_san_! Li-_kun_!" Chiharu called out.

Hearing her voice Mei Ling turned around and faced her. "_Ohayo mina-san!"_ Mei Ling greeted in her loud voice.

Running up to Syaoran and Mei Ling, the five of them came up to the place where they were enjoying the view.

"_Ohayo!"_ the rest greeted back.

As the five of them were approaching, Mei Ling looked at Syaoran who just seemed to be staring at nowhere. "Hey! Syaoran!" she whispered in a voice that was only loud enough for him to hear. "They're here... and Kinomoto-_san_ too. Say something to her will you!"

"Like... what?" he whispered back.

"Umm... I don't know. Let's see... she looks good in her uniform right? Think about that!" she whispered back.

Syaoran looked at Sakura and thought about it. The girl's uniform of Kageyama looked much like the standard _sailor fuku _worn by most schools, with its main colors being blue and white. Sakura was wearing the summer version, having the top as white as it's main color with blue borders, the shirt short-sleeved. The bottom skirt was blue, and was slightly shorter than the winter version.

_'I know I've seen the uniform before but...'_ Syaoran thought to himself. _'It really does look nice on her... I mean it looks nice on the other girls too but... I think it looks the best on her.' _For some reason he couldn't take his eyes off of her. _'What's the right word to describe her... cute? Whoa, that's like something my sisters would say... though, I think I know why now.' _

"You look cute in your uniform, Kinomoto-san." he said directly at her with a straight face. Upon hearing those words come out of his mouth, Sakura just looked straight back at him, speechless for a few seconds, until her face just started to... well... glow.

"Hoe... Th-Thank you Li-kun. You look nice in your uniform too."

"Really? All I'm wearing is a white polo shirt and blue pants... it looks kind of normal if you ask me." he said back, looking at his own clothes.

"It still looks really good, honest!"

"Ah well... if you say so."

Sakaki Rika in the meantime, the ever present romance observer (or so she claims), sensed something in the air between the two. According to Mei Ling, that shy cousin of hers just wanted to make new friends, and someone to talk to. Rika also knew Sakura wanted to make new friends as well. But still, seeing the two talk to each other, didn't it seem like Sakura was really enjoying being complimented by him? The only time she ever saw her like that was back in elementary school, when she still had a crush with her brother's friend, Tsukushiro Yukito.

Making her decision, she went to the side and whispered to her other friends. "C'mon let's go. Let's leave those two alone for a while."

"But..." a few of them started saying.

"Now, now..." she scolded, somehow pushing the four of them away towards the campus. "If you were sharing a special moment with someone special..." she added in a low voice. "You wouldn't want people watching, would you?"

Seeing all of them shake their heads slowly, Rika smiled in triumph. "Anyways, you can pry out the details out of the two of them later, if you so wish..." she purposely stared at Naoko and Mei Ling, who in turn, both started to cower under her gaze. "In any case, let's go!"

----------

"Hey where did everybody go?" Syaoran suddenly asked, looking around him.

"Hoe? Ah... they left without us!"

"We should get going to, or we're going to be late." he said, starting to walk in a brisk pace down the road.

"Okay..." she responded, matching his stride.

The two of them walked along the road of cherry blossoms, admiring the natural beauty that the simple trees gave off. There were less students walking along with them now, as it was a little bit later than usual to be just leaving your dorm. There were still about 15 minutes left after all.

"_Sakura no ki wa kirei da ne..." _Sakura said.

"Yeah. I've only seen a few back home but... I've never seen this many all in one place. The cherry blossoms were always one of favorite trees." Syaoran replied.

"Ah... then we have something in common!" Sakura smiled back.

"Ah well... I'm glad." he replied back shyly.

"Back in Tomoeda, where I used to live, there weren't that many cherry blossom trees near my house or school. The closest ones were at the Tsukihime shrine, which I didn't go to that often. So I really appreciate having all these trees packed into one road, that I would be passing through every day!"

"_Sou ka... _Well, back in my house in Hong Kong, I had too many trees around my house. It's almost like a forest." Syaoran said back, remembering how the trees around his house that he used to walk in, train in, and sometimes just think in. "It was really peaceful there, unlike the busy streets of the city."

"I bet..."

He didn't show it, but Syaoran was enjoying how easy it was to talk with her. It was nice... talking about random things. _'I should've done this more often.'_

"My favorite place though was this big tree in the middle of the forest, it was as tall as one of the buildings on campus..."

Sakura, who was smiling up until now, suddenly thought of something and looked at Syaoran, who was still looking forward.

"... it was a really peaceful place where I could go and be alone. I could climb it, practice under it, take a nap, or whatever." He turned and briefly took a glimpse at his traveling companion. Seeing her say nothing, he decided to continue. "It was a wide open space too, since it was..."

"... in the middle of a wide open clearing." Sakura suddenly said.

He eyed her for a second. "Yeah... it was in the middle of a clearing. The tree was a little deep in the forest, but it was easy to get to because..."

"... there was a winding dirt road leading there." she interrupted again.

This time Syaoran looked at her in amazement "Yeah... you're exactly right. You know, if I didn't know any better I'd say you've been there before." he said as he continued walking. Not like it was possible, it was in the middle of the Li estate after all. He looked to his side again and found her not beside her anymore. He turned back and saw Sakura, standing there like a staring statue, a little behind him.

"Hey Kinomoto-san... we're going to be late if you don't keep walking."

Sakura, in the meantime, had a million thoughts going through her head at the same time. _'That tree he was describing... I know that place! I saw that in my dream! And wasn't that little girl with me named Sakura too?' _Her mind slowly started to piece together the clues, desperate to find what it could mean. _'Back then, I remember going to Hong Kong, and that's exactly where Li-kun was from. I don't remember anything else so I'm not really sure but... could it be?'_

"Li-_kun_?"

"Hm?"

Silence.

"... what is it?" Syaoran said.

"Have we met before?"

Taken aback by the unexpected question, Syaoran looked at her, baffled at what she just said. Looking at her eyes, it looked like they were confused and inquiring, but at the same time, shimmering with hope. What she was hoping for he didn't know but, he knew it had something to do with what he was just talking about. She was acting really strangely, interrupting him with just the right words... how it all concluded in her mind with this question was a total mystery.

"No we haven't. The first time I ever met you was yesterday morning." Syaoran replied back truthfully.

"Are you sure!" she almost shouted back, startling the future Li Clan leader.

"Well... I..."

"You see, I told you I've been to Hong Kong before right?" Sakura interrupted. Syaoran nodded back. "Well it was nine years ago... when I was only five at the time. You see, my family and I visited my mother's friend and..." she paused, and caught her breath. "I met a boy there, a boy my age. We... we made a promise, a promise to make it in this school together..."

"And... you think that I'm the boy you made your promise too?"

Sakura nodded. "You don't remember anything... anything at all about something like that?"

Syaoran looked down in thought, thinking back to his days at his home back in Hong Kong. There were many visitors that frequented the place constantly, as the Li Family was an influential economic power in Hong Kong, as well as a pillar in the world for the magical arts. Yes, often times the visitors would bring their children as well. But... he was such a cold and shy child, he never really got to know any of them, not that he wanted to of course; and preferred to be alone training or wandering or whatever he did. What Sakura was saying, about 'making a promise' just seemed absurd.

Still, he tried to recall in his mind whether he did such a thing or not, but try as he might, his mind always came out blank.

"I'm sorry Kinomoto-_san_ but... I don't remember anything about you, much less a promise." he said to her in sympathy.

Sakura's face fell. "Ah well... that's okay. It seemed too good to be true."

They continued on to the campus, reaching the last sloped tier of the pathway. Unlike before, they didn't say a word since that little conversation earlier. Sakura had her head down in thought. Syaoran was used to peace and quiet, but for some reason this silence was bothering him. Problem was, he didn't really know what to say to her.

"He was the reason I made it in this school..." Sakura said all of a sudden. Syaoran listened to her, staying quiet. "... he was very special to me, that boy. When I got accepted here, I was jumping for joy! Not just because this is a good school, but because I would have a chance, even if it was slight, to see him again! I thought for sure you were the one, but... ah... I'm sorry I'm just saying strange things to you all of a sudden am I?"

Never, in his wildest dreams, would he think that someone would actually be consoling in him! He just wasn't comfortable with it! No experience at all! And about something like this! Isn't this something that girls usually talk with other girls about? Yet strangely... he kind of knew what to say, it was clear as day.

"I hope you find him soon."

Sakura looked up, and gave him a smile. "Thank you Li-_kun_." And then she added "You're a really smooth talker you know that?" and playfully punched him on the arm.

"I am?"

Sakura let out a small chuckle. "Yes, you are."

* * *

_**Kageyama Gakuen**_

_**Main Auditorium**_

_**7:59 AM **_

**-Sakura-**

I thought I'd be all depressed, but just a few words from Li made me feel light as air again. She was kind of scared to tell him about something as personal as that, she thought he would ignore her or get jealous or something.

But he, as he did before, was very understanding. He really was a nice person.

We finally reached the campus, and we followed the trail of students to the place where our year would start. Unlike most high schools, which uses their gymnasiums for a majority of school-wide announcements and events, Kageyama had a numerous seated theatre style auditorium in its own, separate building. Even though it could only hold somewhere around a thousand people, it was more than enough to accommodate the 500 total high school students that attended this school year. The stage was set up with a podium and microphone in the center, and had chairs set up to the side, probably for other faculty.

There weren't too many students just arriving now, as the principal was scheduled to make his speech in about one minute. As Li and I entered the building, they found their friends who were sitting at about the 10th row, middle section. Mei Ling waved to them, and the two hurriedly went down the left aisle to join them. Li sat down next to Mei Ling, while I sat down next to him on the left.

The stage brightened up a bit, and various faculty members made their appearance and sat down on the chairs on the stage. I noticed that there were many young teachers, looking like they just graduated from college; and many older teachers, ones with their hair starting to gray. Nothing really special, but I guess they'd have to be really qualified to get a job here.

And then out of nowhere, I picked up a strange vibe coming from the stage. At first, I thought it was nothing, trying to shake it off; but it remained lingering in the air, like an odor that wouldn't leave the room. .Looking at the faculty again, I saw nothing out of the ordinary, save one male teacher giving a piece of gum to another.

I looked at my friends... Yamazaki seemed to be talking about something with everyone else, while Chiharu just sighed. Rika and Naoko were whispering something to each other, about who knows what. Mei Ling was looking around, probably observing the students around her, and Li was just staring straight at the stage with his normal, relaxed look.

It was definitely not something a normal person could pick up.

My magical senses flaring to life, I tried discerning whatever I was feeling as much as I could, without revealing myself.

I picked up something on my radar then, and this unbidden cold chill went up my spine, as if the warmth of my body was being sucked up for a second. I innately shivered at the feeling, wondering what was causing me to feel like so. Even during those hectic days of capturing and transforming the clow cards, I never felt something like this... something so _dark. _I sensed no other magical aura, but there was definitely something lurking, and it was close by. I fingered my star pendant cautiously.

**"Attention students!"** The loud speaker voice interrupted my thoughts profusely, and I shook with surprise. In that instant, the feeling disappeared entirely, and I was questioning myself if I was just imagining things.

No, I definitely did not.

**"... please stand and bow to give respects to our principal, Kageyama Reiji."**

_**To be continued**_

_**

* * *

**_

_**Preview for the next chapter**_

**Syaoran: "**The First Day" huh? More like "The First Morning"…

**Me: **Now now! I did actually write out all that was going to happen "today" but... it was just too long. So I cut it in half, and this is the first half.

**Syaoran: **Whatever you say…

**Me: **I think it's your turn to do the preview.

**Syaoran: **As you wish. Umm... let's see. First we get our new schedules, then we arrive at our first classes, then the lecture starts, then...

**Me: **… you make it seem very long and boring.

**Syaoran: **I know… It's just that I'm not good at this stuff...

**Me: **(writes something) Here, read this.

**Syaoran: **Okay… The class day seems to begin normal enough for our heroes, but then the peace of a normal school day is shattered by something unexpected! What could it be? Read on to find out!

**Me: **See! Short, and to the point. That wasn't too hard!

**Syaoran: **Next time on A Feeling So Strong: Chapter 6: "An Explosive Encounter". See you then!

* * *

_**Translations:**_

_ja, oyasumi:_ 'Well then, good night!'

_Gomen:_ 'Sorry' (informal)

_mina-san: '_everyone'

_Sakura no ki wa kirei da ne...: _'The cherry blossom trees are pretty, aren't they?' (Sorry, I don't usually put full sentences but just for this instance, I really wanted to put that line in)

_Sou ka_: 'Is that so...'

For the scene in ancient China, all the names I used are entirely fictional, and have no historical relevance. The exception is Emperor Liu Bang, he was the real first emperor of the Han Dynasty. Also, the incantations pronounced by Huang Zhu Xun are really just random Chinese kanji my mind thought up. If, for some bizarre reason they actually translate into something, it's pure coincidence.


End file.
